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THE 

LINCOLN MEMORIAL: 

ALBUM-IMMORTELLES. 

ORIGINAL LIFE PICTURES, WITH AUTOGRAPHS, 

FROM THE HANDS AND HEARTS OF EMINENT 

AMERICANS AND EUROPEANS, 

CONTEMPORARIES OF THE GREAT MARTYR TO LIBERTY, 

^braljmn Cincolu. 

TOGETHER WITH EXTRACTS EROM HIS SPEECHES^ 
LETTERS AND SAYINGS. 

COLLECTED AND EDITED ^---^^ 

OSBORN H. OLDROYD. ^ 

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY #X^ 

MATTHEW SIMPSON, D.D., LL.D., ^ 

AND A SKETCH OF THE PATRIOTS LIFE BY '" 

HON. ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 



NEW YORK: 

G. W, Carl et on & Co., Ptiblishers. 



LONDON : S. LOW, SON & CO. 
MDCCCLXXXII. 



ISOLD ONLY BY SUBSCRIPTION.} 






COPYRIGHT, 

OSBORN H. OLDROYD. 

1882. 



3y trtUttBfet 
SEP 20 1915 



stereotyped by Trow 

Samuel Stoddek, Feinting 4nd BooK-BiNDiNa Co., 

UO Ann Street. N. Y. jq-_ y_ 



TO 

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 

THESE 

LITERARY IMMORTELLES TO ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 
THE PRESIDENT 

WHO ROSE FROM THE RANKS OP THE PLAi:^ PEOPLE; 

THE PATRIOT 

WHO GAVE HIS LIFE FOR HIS COUNTRY; 

AND 

THE LIBERATOR 

WHO BOUND UP THE UNION, AND UNBOUND THE SLAVES, 

ARE 






PREFACE. 



IN offering this volume to the pubhc a few words 
from the editor may not seem out of place. 
On the fifteenth day of April, 1880, I was standing 
near the monument of Abraham Lincoln, waiting for the 
Lincoln Guard of Honor to begin their first memorial 
service on the fifteenth anniversary of the death of 
Abraham Lincoln. The gathering was a small one, it 
being only about twenty-two minutes after seven o'clock 
in the morning. As I gazed on the pinnacle of the 
towering shaft, that marks the resting-place of him 
whom I had learned to love in my boyhood's years, 
when, in the spirited campaign of i860, "Old Abe" was 
the watchword of every Republican, I fell to wondering 
whether it might not be possible for me to contribute 
my mite toward adding luster to the fame of this 
great product of American institutions. I had begun 
as early as i860 to collect trophies from his campaign, 
and had ever since then carefully preserved every article 
I could secure that r'^lated in any way to his memory. 
The first thought that came into my mind, as I stood 
looking at that noble monument, was that of building a 
Memorial Hall in which to preserve the memorials I then 
possessed and those which I might subsequently secure, 
and I then and there adopted this plan. I have con- 
tinued up to this time to gather Lincoln mementos, 
and have now in my poss,ession nearly two thousand 
books, sermons, eulogies, poems, songs, portraits, badges, 
autograph letters, pins, medals, envelopes, statuettes, 

M 



VI 



PREFACE. 



etc., etc. The fact is, I have collected everything I could 
find sacred to Lincoln's memory, from a newspaper scrap 
to his large cook-stove and other household articles. I 
desire here to thank die many friends to whom I am 
under obligations for valuable contributions. I have the 
promise of several more, that will be sent me in due 
time, and I shall always be thankful for any Lincoln 
relic sent me, no matter how trifling it may seem to the 
owner. The accumulation of Lincoln relics induced me 
to collect the opinions of the great men of the world 
in regard to the noble martyr, in order to demonstrate 
how universally Mr. Lincoln was beloved and respected. 
Letters were sent to distinguished persons East and West, 
North and South in our country, as well as to persons in 
England, requesting them to express their estimate of 
Lincoln's public and private character and of his ser- 
vices ; and the more than two hundred responses to be 
found in this volume, over Xki^ facsimiles of the writer's 
names, shows the unexpected success I met with in this 
effort. Their publication in book form, together with 
the other reminiscences of Lincoln found in this volume, 
will, I have no doubt, be approved by the public. It has 
been my purpose to produce a work the contents of 
which might in some degree shed luster on the name of 
the immortal emancipator, and the external appearance 
of which might be an ornament in any house or library. 
How far I have succeeded in attaining the goal of my 
ambition, of this a generous public will have to judge. 
Surely the gathering of the material for this volume has 
been the greatest pleasure of my life. It has been a 
source of profound gratification to me, not only to 
receive the many tributes of great men's thoughts upon 
the life and character of Lincoln, but also to visit the 
old friends of his boyhood and listen to their simple and 
unvarnished stories illustrating the goodness of his heart. 
What a noble example was his whole life ! I have often 
tho-.ight what a beautiful book for boys might be made 
out of the boyhood of Lincoln if the past were collected 



PREFACE. vii 

and properly presented. All the friends of his youth 
whom I have seen give testimony of the purity and 
nobleness of his character ; they say he always wanted 
to see fair play and that he was honest and upright in 
all things. He found great delight in helping any one 
in need. An old friend of Mr. Lincoln's, now living in 
Petersburg, 111., told me how he at one time was build- 
ing a house and was unable to make a brace fit. Mr. 
Lincoln happened to come that way, and the former 
said to him that if he would cut him a brace he would 
vote for him the first time he ran for President. Lincoln 
took a slate and pencil, and after getting the distance 
between the joists, he estimated its dimensions, made a 
pattern and the brace slipped in, a perfect fit. " I did 
not vote for Lincoln," added the man who related the 
story, " as I promised to do, but I have regretted it 
ever since." Few better examples of industry could be 
furnished to young men than the life of Lincoln. He 
was always as busy as a bee. He always carried some 
good book in his pocket, and when not otherwise engaged 
he would read, and was usually seen reading when going 
to and from his work. It is hoped that the sketch of 
Lincoln given in this work, the many extracts from his 
speeches, and the numerous thoughts and utterances in 
reference to his life and character by the foremost men 
of our time may be made accessible to the youth of our 
land, in order that thus many a young heart may be 
stimulated to industry, honesty, goodness and patriotism, 
and may find encouragement for higher aspirations and 
good deeds. The names of some persons will be missed 
in this work by many of the readers. In reference to this 
I have only to say that the fault is not mine. For some 
reason or other they did not respond to my urgent 
solicitations. It now remains to me to express my most 
hearty thanks to all those persons who have so kindly 
aided me in the preparation of this volume. I am 
particularly indebted for their special interest to Rev. 
Matthew Simpson, Hon. I. N. Arnold, Prof. Rasmus B. 



viii PREFACE. 

Anderson, Benson J. Lossing. LL.D., Rev. Theo. L. 
Cuyler, T. W. S. Kidd, Joshua F. Speed, Joseph Gilles- 
pie and Jesse W. Fell. Their generous assistance has 
been a great comfort and help to me. 

All I ask is that with the sale of this book I may 
realize some funds with which to build a Memorial Hall, 
where I may display to the public, free of charge, my life 
work in the collection of memorials and souvenirs of 
Abraham Lincoln, which will in due time be bequeathed 
to the public. 

I am aware that there are many imperfections in all 
human enterprises, and am not blind to the faults of 
this work, but I can truly say that it has not been under- 
taken for the purpose of making money, but solely as an 
outcome of my enthusiasm and reverence for its great 
hero. I have spared neither pains nor expense, and, in 
view of this fact, it may not seem immodest if I bespeak 
for my effort the generosity of the critic and the liberality 
of the public. 



Springfield, Illinois, July, 1882. 



GENERAL CONTENTS. 



Author's Preface, 5 

Index to the Writings and Speeches of 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 11 

List of Contributors 15 

Introduction by Bishop Simpson, 23 

Life of Abraham Lincoln, by Isaac N. Arnold, . 29 

Miscellaneous, 70 



INDEX 



TO THE 



WRITINGS, SPEECHES AND SAYINGS 



BY 



Qlbraljam Ciucolu. 



First Political Speech when a Candidate for the Illinois 
Legislature in 1832 ....... 

Extract from a speech delivered December, 1839 . 
Resolutions upon slavery in the Illinois Legislature 
An address before the Springfield Washingtonian Temper 
ance Society, February 22, 1842 .... 

Speech at Peoria, Illinois, October 16, 1854 . 

Extract from a speech at Springfield, Illinois, June 26, 1857 

Letter to Hon. Stephen A. Douglas .... 

Extract from a speech at Springfield, Illinois, June 17, 1858 
Extract from a speech at Chicago, Illinois, July 10, 1858 
Extract from a speech delivered at Springfield, Illinois 

July 17, 1858 

Extract from a speech at Ottawa, Illinois, August 21, 1858 
Extract from a speech at Freeport, Illinois, August 27, 1858 
Extract from a speech at Galesburrf, Illinois, October 7, 1858 120 
Extract from a speech at Quincy, Illinois, October 13, 1S58 . 124 
Speech at Alton, Illinois, October 15, 1858 . . . 130 

Extract from a speech at Columbus, Ohio, September, 1859 132 
Extract from a speech at Cincinnati, Ohio, September, 1859 134 

[xi] 



FA6B 

76 
78 
80 

84 
98 

100 
102 
106 
108 



114 
116 



xii INDEX. 

Extract from a speech at Jonesboro, Illinois, September 15, 

1858 

Extract from an address at Cooper Institute, February 27 

i860 

Address to the citizens of Springfield, on his departure for 

Washington, February 11, 1861 
Letter of Acceptance 
Speech at Toledo, Ohio 
Speech at Indianapolis, Indiana 
Speech to the members of the Legislature of Indiana, who 

waited upon him at his hotel 
Speech at Cincinnati, Ohio 
Speech to the Ohio State Senate. 
Speech at Steubenville, Ohio 
Speech at Pittsburgh, Pa. 
Speech at Cleveland, Ohio 
Speech at Buffalo, N. Y. 
Speech at Syracuse, N. Y. 
Speech at Utica, N. Y. 
Speech from the steps of the Capitol, Albany, N. Y. 
Speech in the Assembly Hall at Albany, N. Y. 

Speech at Poughkeepsie, N. Y 

Speech at Peekskill, N. Y 

Reply to the Mayor of New York .... 

Speech to various Republican Associations, New York. 
Speech at Newark, New Jersey. . . . . 

Speech in the Senate Chamber, Trenton, New Jersey . 
Speech at Trenton, New Jersey, delivered in the House o 

Assembly. ........ 

Address to the Mayor and Citizens of Philadelphia. 
Speech in Independence Hall, at Philadelphia. 
Speech before Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Feb., 1861 
Speech at Lancaster, Pennsylvania .... 

Speech before the Legislature of Pennsylvania, at Harris 

burg, February 22, 1861 

Speech to the Mayor and Common Council of Washington 
Proclamation, April 15, 1S61 



INDEX. 



Reply to Governor Hicks and Mayor Brown. 

Message to Congress, in extra session, July 4, 1861 

Personal Conference with the Representatives from the Bor- 
der States 

Reply to Horace Greeley .... 

Reply to a Religious Delegation 

First Inaugural Address .... 

Abolishing Slavery in the District of Columbia 

First Annual Message to Congress, December 3, 1861 

Proclamation, relative to General Hunter's order declaring 
slaves within his department free ..... 

Reading the Emancipation Proclamation to his Cabinet, 
September 22, 1S62 ........ 

Reply to the Resolutions of the East Baltimore Methodist 
Conference of 1862 ....... 

To the Synod of Old School Presbyterians, Baltimore. . 

Reply to the Committee of the Lutheran Synod of 1862 

Second Annual Message to Congress, December i, 1862 

Emancipation Proclamation, January i, 1863. 

Reply to an invitation to preside over a meeting of the 
Christian Commission ....... 

Reply to address from workingmen, Manchester, England 

Remarks made to some friends New Year's evening, 1863 . 

From the letter to Erastus Corning and others 

Response to a serenade 

The President's Dispatch ..... 

Proclamation ........ 

Reply to a Committee of the Presbyterian Church 

Letter to General Grant ..... 

A Proclamation, July 15, 1863 .... 

Presentation of a Commission as Lieutenant-Genere 
U. S. Grant 

Letter to James C. Conkling .... 

Reply to the letter of Governor Seymour, of New York 

Address on the Battle-Field of Gettysburg 

Third Annual Message to Congress 

Speech at a Ladies' Fair in Washington 



al to 



FAGB 
216 



224 
226 
228 
230 

234 
236 

244 

246 

248 

256 
258 
262 

266 

268 
270 
272 
278 
280 
282 
284 
288 
290 

292 

294 
296 
298 
300 



XIV 



INDEX. 



Letter to A. G. Hodges 

Speech at the opening of a Fair in Baltimore, April, 1864 
Reply to a Committee from the Methodist Conference . 
Response to a delegation of the National Union League 

Speech at the Philadelphia Fair 

From his Letter of Acceptance ..... 

Saving a Life ......... 

To whom it may concern ...... 

Speech to a serenading club of Pennsylvanians 

Address to the Political Clubs 

Interview with a gentleman ...... 

Letter to Mrs. Eliza P. Gurney. ..... 

Reply to a committee of loyal colored people of Baltimore 

Remarks to the 189th New York Regiment . 

Speech to the 164th Ohio ...... 

Reply to a company of clergymen .... 

Speech to the 148th Ohio regiment .... 

Remarks to a serenading party at the White House 
Observance of the Sabbath ...... 

Letter to INIrs. Bixby, of Boston ..... 

Remarks to a delegation from Ohio .... 

Fourth Annual Message to Congress, December 6th, 1864 
Reply to an Illinois clergyman ..... 

Instructions to Wm. H. Seward, at the Meeting of Messrs 

Stevens, Hunter and Campbell, at Fortress Monroe, Va 
Second Inaugural Address, delivered March 3, 1865 
Remarks upon the fall of Richmond .... 
A Verbal Message given to Hon. Schuyler Colfax 
Remark previous to attending the theater on the night of 

his assassination . . . . . 

Fac-simile of the play-bill at Ford's Theater on the night 

of April 14, 1865 ........ 

Fac-simile Letter to J. W. Fell, 1859 . . . . . 

Autobiography of AbraJiam Lincoln, in Fac-Simile 



PAGE 
312 

316 

320 
322 
324 
324 
326 

332 

334 
338 
340 
342 
344 
346 
354 
356 
358 
360 
362 

364 
366 

368 

370 
372 
374 

375 

376 

479 
480 



ALPHABETICAL 



LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS. 



Arnold, Isaac N., Author . 

Anderson, Rasmus B., Author . 

Ayres, R. B., Major-General 

Abbott, Lyman, Author and Divine 

Adams, Charles Francis, ex-Min. to England 

Arthur, T. S., Author .... 

Affleck, W. B., Lecturer 

AUyn, Robert, Professor 

Andrews, Israel Ward, College President 

Avery, John, Professor 

Anthony, Henry B., Statesman . 
Botta, Anna C, Authoress 

Bennett, H. S., Chaphxin Fisk University 

Blanchard, Rufus, Author ... 

Bellows, Henry W., Divine 

Burnam, C. F., Lawyer 

Bradley, Joseph P., Justice Sup. Court 

Burnside, Ambrose E., Major-General 

Bright, John, Member of Parliament 

Bascom, John, College President 

Bennett, Emerson, Editor . 

Boutwell, George S., Statesman 

Barnum, P. T., Showman . 

Barnes, S. G., Professor 

Bailey, J. M., Journalist 

Bancroft, Cecil F. P., Professor 

Bedell, Gregory T., Divine 

Bradley, W. O., Lawyer 



29 
77 
79 
81 

83 

99 

123 

139 
388 

525 
515 
71 
105 
153 
169 
171 
173 

175 
179 

185 
249 
267 
3^9 
33^ 
33^ 
339 
341 
361 



[XV] 



LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS. 



Barrett, Lawrence, Tragedian . 

Black, J. C, General .... 

Bigney, M. F., Author and Journalist 

Bishop, R. M., ex-Gov. Ohio 

Barrows, John H., Divine . 

Burk, Thomas, House of Commons . 

Bowman, Fred. H. . 

Bennett, John, Merchant 



Publisher . 
Author and Divine 
Statesman 
ex- Vice-President 
Author and Divine . 
Statesman 

Divine 
Author 



Boyd, Andrew, 
Cuyler, Theodore L., 

Clay, Cassius M., 

■Colfax, Schuyler, 

Collyer, Robert, 

Conkling, Roscoe, 

Coxe, Arthur Cleveland, 

Clarke, James Freeman, 

Cooper, Peter, Philanthropist 

Chadbourne, P. A., Professor 

Chase, Thomas, College President 

Cox, S. S., Author and Statesman 

Crosby, Howard, Author and Divine 

Cooke, Rose Terry, Authoress . 

Carpenter, Cyrus Clay, ex-Gov. of Iowa 

Coriis, Corydon T., Physician . 

Carman, Caleb, Shoemaker 
Da La Matyr, G., Member of Congress 

Douglass, Frederick, Orator 

Dow, Neal, Lecturer 

D'Ooge, Martin L., Author and Professo 

Dana, Charles A., Journalist 

Dawes, Henry L., Statesman 

Dilke, Charles W., House of Commons 

Drake, Samuel Adams, Author . 

Davis, David, Statesman 

Dale, R. W., Divine .... 
Edison, Thomas A., Inventor 

Eastman, Sophie E., Authoress 



LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS. 



xvu 



Eastman, Zebina, ex-Consul 
Frothingham, O. B., Author and Divine . 
Forney, John W., Journalist 
Franklin, William B., Major-General 
Frye, William P., Statesman 

Governor of Ohio . 
ex-Secretary of State 
Author and Professor 
Inventor . 

Authoress . 



Foster, Charles, 
Fish, Hamilton, 
Frieze, Henry S., 
Field, Cyrus W., 
Frazer, Virginia A., 



Fisk, Clinton B., Major-General 
Fisher, George P., Author and Divine 
Fell, Jesse W., Lawyer 
Fee, John G., Professor 

Gough, John B., Orator 

Garland, Augustus H., U. S. Senator 
Grant, Ulysses S., ex-President 
Gray, Asa, Writer and Scientist 
Goodwin, W. W., Professor 
Grow, Galusha A., Member of Congress 
Godwin, Parke, Author 
Garfield, James A., ex-President 
Griffith, George Bancroft, Author 
Gayarre, Charles, Author , 
Gillespie, Joseph, Lawyer . 
Gibbon, John, Major-General 
Gibson, W. H., Adjutant-General Ohio 
Greene, William G., Farmer 

Haven, E. O., Author and Divine 

Hastings, Hugh J., Journalist . 
Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Poet . 
Hall, Eugene J., Poet 
Hewitt, Abram S. Statesman 
Hale, Eugene, Statesman 
Hart, Charles Henry, Author 
Hubbard, Gurdon S., Merchant 
Higginson, Thomas Wentworth, Author 
2 



PAGE 
486 
161 
163 

355 
355 
359 
359 
483 
446 

437 
468 
411 
191 
235 

•339 

409 
409 

432 
408 
411 
431 

455 
407 

444 
5^6 
149 
243 
243 
251 
257 
297 
301 
305 
325 



XVIU 



LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS. 



Hazen, William B., Major-General . 

Hancock, Winfield S., Major-General 

Hall, Newman, Divine 

Harrington, C. S., Professor 

Hayes, Rutherford B., ex-President . 

Howells, William D., Author 

Holland, J. G. Author 

Howard, O. O., Major-General . 

Hopkins, Louisa Parsons, Authoress 

Houk, Leonidas C, Member of Congress 

Hatch, Rufus, Banker 

Herndon, Wm. H., Lawyer 
Julian, George W., Member of Congress 

Judd, Mrs. Norman B 

Kirkwood, Samuel J., ex-Secretary of Interior 

Kautz, August V., Major-General 

Kidd, T. W. S., Editor 
Lossing, Benson J., Historian . 

Lanman, Charles, Author . 

Lippincott, Charles E., General 

Larcom, Lucv, Authoress . 

Longfellow, Henry W., Poet 
Meigs, M. C, Quartermaster-General 

M'Culloch, Hugh, ex-Sec'y of Treasury 

Merritt, Wesley, Brevet Major-General 

Morrill, Lot M., Statesman 

Minier, George W., Merchant . 

Maynard, Horace, 



Meyer, Albert J., 
Martindale, E. B., 
Morton, Levi P., 
McLellan, Isaac, 
Murdoch, James E., 
Morey, William C, 
Marvin, James, 



ex-Postmaster-General 
U. S. Signal Officer 
General 

Minister to France . 
Poet 

Elocutionist 
Professor 
Professor . 



Mead, C. M., Professor 

Merrick, Frederick, ex-College President 



LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS. 



XIX 



McCookj Anson G., Member of Congress 
Matthews, Stanley, U. S. Senator 
Miller, Samuel F., Justice Supreme Court 
McNeely, William, Farmer 

Northrop, Cyrus, Professor 

New, John C, ex-U. S. Treasurer 
Newton, William Wilberforce, Divine 
Nance, George Washington, Farmer 

Oglesby, Richard J., ex-Governor of Illinois 

Phelps, Elizabeth Stuart, Authoress 

Pagliardirri, Tito, .... 

Pike, Albert, Author 
Phillips, Wendell, Author and Orator 
Porter, Noah, Author and Professor 
Prime, Samuel Irenaeus, Author, Editor 
Pratt, C. E., Brigadier-General 
Palmer, Ray, Poet and Divine 
Payne, C. A., College President 
Porter, Robert P., Journalist 
Teacher 

Admiral . 
ex-Governor of Mass. 
ex-Secretary of War 



Pomeroy, E. C, 
Porter, David D., 
Rice, Alexander H., 

Ramsey, Alexander, 



Rector, Henry M., ex-Governor of Arkansas 
Ross, Alexander Milton, Physician 
Rollins, James S., Member of Congress . 
Simpson, M., Author and Divine 

Speed, Joshua F., Lawyer .... 
Stoneman, George, Major-General . 
Stephens, Alexander H., Statesman . 
Shuman, Andrew, ex-Lieut. Gov. of Illinois 
Schaff, Philip, Author and Divine 
Sturtevant, J. M., College President . 
Shrigley, James, Divine 
Spinner, F. E., ex-U. S. Treasurer . 
Sherman, William T., General . 
Schofield, Glenni W., Member of Congress 



XX 



LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS. 



Smith, Richard, Journalist 

Scott, L., Divine .... 

Strong, William, Justice Supreme Court 
Smyth, Frederick, ex-Governor of N. H. 
Sherman, John, ex-Sec'y U. S. Treasury 
Swisshelm, Jane Gray, Authoress 
Stoddard, W. O., Author . 
Smith, William F., Major-General 

Trowbridge, John Townsend, Author 

Taylor, A. A. E., College President . 
Townsend, E. D., Adjutant-General 
Townsend, George Alfred, Poet and Nov 

Volk, Leonard W., Sculptor 

Whittier, John G., Poet .... 
Warner, Charles Dudley, Author 
Winthrop, Robert C, Statesman 
Warren, William F,, Professor . 
Williams, S. Wells, Author 
Walker, William, Lawyer . 
Wood, Fernando, Member of Congress 
Woodford, Stewart L., General 
Warner, Willard, U. S. Senator 
Waite, Morrison R., Chief Justice 
Wheildon, William Willder, Author . 



elist 



417 

405 
406 
412 
428 

413 

434 
555 
157 
386 

504 

5T3 

217 

lOI 

129 

165 
167 
177 
213 
398 
445 
439 
467 
44c 



THE angels of your thoughts are climbing still 
The shining ladder of his fame, 
And have not reached tiie top, nor ever will, 

While this low life pronounces his high name. 

But yonder, where they dream, or dare, or do, 

The " good " or "great " beyond our reach, 

To talk of him must make old language new 
In heavenly, as it did in human, speech. 



&-ljaA^R^?~MiM^, 



Andover, Mass., November, i88i. 

[xxi] 



INTRODUCTION. 



'' I ^HE name of Abraham Lincoln is imperishable. 
-^ His fame is world-wide. Born in comparative 
poverty, trained in obscurity, mingling with the sons of 
toil in early manhood, he yet rose to one of earth's 
proudest positions, and at his death the world was in 
tears. He was not born great, as the heir of a great 
name, or of an estate ; yet he was born great in having 
a strong intellect and a noble heart. Without the sur- 
rounding of friends, without the influence of wealth, he 
rose slowly but surely. Step by step he ascended the 
great pyramid until he stood upon its lofty summit. As 
we read history, how few names survive. Multiplied 
millions pass away in every generation ; a few hundreds 
only are honored by coming ages. In early history the 
names which live are chiefly those of warriors or founders 
of nations ; but Lincoln was no warrior ; he drew no 
sword ; he fought no bloody battles ; he had no stars 
upon his breast. Others, as the founders of schools of 

philosophy, have left a name ; as Plato, and Socrates, and 

[xxiii] 



xxiv INTRODUCTION. 

Aristotle. You hear of Croesus through his untold 
wealth ; but Lincoln was neither teacher nor millionaire. 
First, his name lives through his honesty and unselfish- 
ness, in his business, in his profession of the law, and in 
all his transactions among men, he gained the grand title 
of Jionest. His word was not doubted. No man believed 
that he ever betrayed any trust. 

When in after life he had millions under his control, 
not even an enemy whispered a suspicion of his illegally 
or selfishly controlling a dollar of public money. If an 
honest man is the noblest work of God, then Mr. Lin- 
coln's title to high nobility is clear and unquestioned. 

In his busiest moment, in his most anxious hours 
during the war, he was ever ready to listen to the story 
of distress ; many a widow's heart was cheered by his 
words and acts of kindness. 

Secondly, he adhered firmly to what he believed to be 
right. Endowed with strong intellectual powers, w4iich 
he had carefully exercised, he loved to study great prin- 
ciples. Deeply interested in the welfare of the 
nation, he inquired how it might become strong and be 
jDerpetuated. He followed not the crowd ; he sought 
not personal popularity ; he had faith in the ultimate 
triumph of truth and right. Perceiving the antagonism 
between slave labor and free labor, espousing the cause 
of equal rights and of human freedom, he early became 



INTRODUCTION. xxv 

the opponent of the encroachments of the slave power. 
He stood firmly with a small minority while others 
quailed before an imperious and threatening majority. 
He risked his position as a leader, his reputation as a 
statesman, as he disputed the right of slavery to the 
territories, and championed the cause of freedom. In his 
speeches which he made through his State are embodied 
most noble sentiments and trenchant thoughts ; and 
though unpopular for a time, his sentiments became the 
sentiments of the trreat West. 

Timidly, when, in a season of great national excite- 
ment, he was unexpectedly called to the Presidency of the 
nation, he left his Western home with a presentiment 
that he would probably never return. The dangers of 
rebellion and civil war were before him. Threats of 
treachery and assassination were heard. But he deter- 
mined, if needful, to lay down his life for the nation. 
He was not a warrior, but he was a hero. Through the 
weary years of that fearful war he bore anxieties and 
labors, and passed through perils that were exhausting 
and fearful. He lived to see the cause of the nation 
triumph, to behold the nation victorious, and coming 
peace smiled upon the land. Just at that moment the 
hand of the assassin sped the fatal ball. He died a 
martyr for his country. 

Foicrthly, In that terrible contest he had the dis- 



xxvi INTRODUCl'ION. 

tinguished honor and power of showing that "the pen is 
miehtier than the sword." Fearful had been the contest. 
Disaster had sometimes attended our armies ; despond- 
ency brooded over the minds of the people until he 
issued the famous Proclamation of Emancipation. That 
act became the .turning-point of the war. Five millions 
of men were changed by it from slaves to citizens. 
Manacles were melted by its electric thrill. Success 
began to crown the movements of the army, and soon 
triumph rested on our banners. 

Nor was it only from the millions of slaves that chains 
had been removed ; the whole nation had been in bond- 
age ; free speech had been suppressed. Men dared not 
utter their convictions. An inquisition had been made 
in the postal service ; the pulpit had frequently been 
over-awed by excited assemblies and utterances. Our 
great nation was reproached by the nations of the earth 
as violating the principles of freedom by holding men in 
slavery. The Proclamation of Emancipation not only 
freed the slave, but freed the nation. Free speech was 
restored. The pulpit and the press were unshackled. 
The dark blot that had rested upon our national honor 
was removed, and the nation stood proudly a united and 
free people among the nations of the earth. This act 
linked the name of Lincoln with the rights and progress 
of humanity, and while human freedom and true progress 



INTRODUCTION. xxvii 

continue shall that name be held in reverence. We look 
not only to the past, but his life is a living power for the 
present and the future. It is a glowing commentary on 
the principles of the American Government and on the 
possibilities of human elevation. In older nations the 
rulers are found in hereditary families, among names 
that have been noble for generations ; where wealth has 
been accumulated, and centuries of honored memories 
have clustered around the name. Mr. Lincoln's eleva- 
tion shows that in America every station in life may be 
honorable ; that there is no barrier against the humblest ; 
but that merit, wherever it exists, has the opportunity to 
be known. His life also is an inspiration for the young. 
There are few, indeed, more humble in their birth, more 
obscure in their early associations, more pressed with 
life's surroundings and cares, with fewer apparent pros- 
pects of success ;• to all these his example and his eleva- 
tion becomes a living power. What he became they 
may aspire to be ; and the humblest youth looking 
through the coming years beholds the possibility of 
occupying any position to which his talents and his 
efforts may fit him. 

Nor is it uninstructive to see how a name unknown 
but a few years before may become world-wide. As a 
President of the United States his position was equal, 
at least, to that of the monarchs of Europe ; and yet 



xxviii INTRODUCTION. 

those monarchs had been unwiUing to recognize as an 
equal the President of a youthful nation, whose term of 
office was limited to a few years. But when suddenly 
smitten, the national sympathy of the masses and of the 
monarchs was strongly touched ; words of sympathy and 
condolence were sent from nearly every throne, and the 
masses of the people in all their associations joined in the 
general mourning, recognizing that a friend of humanity 
had fallen. It is very fitting that proper mementos 
should be prepared and widely diffused. The volume 
now offered to the public embraces some of these me- 
mentos, and is a collection of some of the best thoughts 
and utterances in reference to his distincruished career. 
It is hoped that it may have a wide circulation, and may 
stimulate many a youthful heart to noble aspirations and 
to noble deeds. 



Philadelphia, 1882. 








ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



BY HON. ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 



THE noblest inheritance we, Americans, derive from 
our British ancestors is the memory and example 
of the great and good men who adorn your history. 
They are as much appreciated and honored on our side 
of the Atlantic as on this. In giving to the English- 
speaking world Washington and Lincoln we think we 
repay, in large part, our obligation. Their pre-eminence 
in American history is recognized, and the republic, which 
the one founded and the other preserved, has, already, 
crowned them as models for her children. 

In the annals of almost every great nation some 
names appear standing out clear and prominent, names 
of those who have influenced or controlled the great 
events which make up history. Such were Wallace and 
Bruce in Scotland, Alfred and the Edwards, William 
the Conqueror, Cromwell, Pitt, Nelson and Wellington, 
in England, and such, in a still greater degree, were 
Washinorton and Lincoln. 

I am here, from near his home, with the hope that 

[29] 



30 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

I may, to some extent, aid you in forming a just and 
true estimate of Abraham Lincoln. I knew him, some- 
what intimately, in private and public life for more 
than twenty years. We practiced law at the same bar, 
and during his administration, I was a member of Con- 
gress, seeing him and conferring with him often, and 
therefore, I may hope without vanity, I trust, that I 
shall be able to contribute somethinof of value in 
enabling you to judge of him. We in America, as well 
as you in the old world, believe that "blood will tell;" 
that it is a oreat blessingr to have had an honorable 
and worthy ancestry. We believe that moral principle, 
physical and intellectual vigor, in the forefathers are 
qualities likely to be manifested in the descendants. 
Fools are not the fathers or mothers of ereat men. I 
claim for Lincoln, humble as was the station to which 
he was born and rude and rough as were his early 
surroundings, that he had such ancestors. I mean that 
his father and mother, his grandfather and grand- 
mother, and still further back, however humble and 
rugged their condition, were physically and mentally 
strong, vigorous men and women ; hardy and successful 
pioneers on the frontier of American civilization. 
They were among the early settlers in Virginia, Ken- 
tucky, and Illinois, and knew how to take care of them- 
selves in the midst of difficulties and perils ; how to 
live and succeed when the weak would perish. These 
ancestors of Lincoln, for several generations, kept on 
the very crest of the wave of Western settlements — 
on the frontier, where the struggle for life was hard 
and the strong alone survived. 



BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 31 

His grandfather, Abraham Lincoln, and his father, 
Thomas, were born in Rockingham County, Vir- 



About 1 781, while his father was still a lad, his grand- 
father's family emigrated to Kentucky, and was a contem- 
porary with Daniel Boone, the celebrated Indian fighter 
and early hero of that State. This, a then wild and 
wooded territory, was the scene of those fierce and 
desperate conflicts between the settlers and the Indians 
which gave it the name of " The dark and bloody 
ground." 

When Thomas Lincoln, the father of the President, 
was six years old, his father (Abraham, the grandfather 
of the President) was shot and instantly killed by an 
Indian. The boy and his father were at work in the corn- 
field, near their log-cabin home. Mordecai, the elder 
brother of the lad, at work not far away, witnessed the 
attack. He saw his father fall, and ran to the cabin, seized 
his ready-loaded rifle and springing to the loop-hole cut 
through the logs, he saw the Indian, who had seized the 
boy, carrying him away. Raising his rifle and aiming at 
a silver medal, conspicuous on the breast of the Indian, 
he instantly fired. The Indian fell, and the lad, springing 
to his feet, ran to the open arms of his mother, at the 
cabin door. Amidst such scenes, the Lincoln family nat- 
urally produced rude, rough, hardy, and fearless men, 
familiar with wood-craft ; men who could meet the 
extremes of exposure and fatigue, who knew how to find 
food and shelter in the forest ; men of great powers of 
endurance — brave and self-reliant, true and faithful to 
their friends and dancjerous to their enemies. Men with 



32 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

minds to conceive and hands to execute bold enter- 
prises. 

It is a curious fact that the grandfather, Abraham 
Lincoln, is noted on the surveys of Daniel Boone as hav- 
ing purchased of the Government five hundred acres of 
land. Thomas Lincoln, the father, was also the purchaser 
of government land, and President Lincoln left, as a part 
of his estate, a quarter-section (one hundred and sixty- 
acres), which he had received from the United States for 
services rendered in early life as a volunteer soldier, in the 
Black-Hawk Indian war. Thus for three generations the 
Lincoln family were land-owners directly from the Gov- 
ernment. 

Such was the lineage and family from which President 
Lincoln sprung. Such was the environment in which his 
character was developed. 

He was born in a log-cabin, in Kentucky, on the 12th 
of February, 1S09. 

It will aid you in picturing to yourself this young man 
and his surroundings, to know that, from boyhood to the 
age of twenty-one, in winter his head was protected from 
the cold by a cap made of the skin of the coon, fox, or 
prairie-wolf, and that he often wore the buckskin breeches 
and hunting-shirt of the pioneer. 

He grew up to be a man of majestic stature and Her- 
culean strength. Had he appeared in England, or Nor- 
mandy, some centuries ago, he would have been the 
founder of some great baronial family, possibly of a 
royal dynasty. He could have wielded, with ease, the 
two-handed sword of Guy, the great Earl of Warwick, or 
the battle-axe of Richard of the Lion-heart. 



BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 33 

HIS EDUCATION AND TRAINING. 

The world is naturally interested in knowing what 
was the education and traininor which fitted Lincoln for 
the great work which he accomplished. On the extreme 
frontier, the means of book-learning was very limited. 
The common free schools, which now closely follow the 
heels of the pioneer and organized civil government, and 
prevail all over the United States, had not then reached 
the Far West. An itinerant school-teacher wandered 
occasionally into a settlement, opened a private school 
for a few months, and, at such, Lincoln attended at differ- 
ent times, in all about twelve months. His mother, who 
was a woman of practical good sense, of strong physical 
organization, of deep religious feeling, gentle and self- 
reliant, taught him to read and write. 

Although she died when he was only nine years old, 
she had already laid deep the foundations of his excel- 
lence. Perfect truthfulness and integrity, love of justice, 
self-control, reverence for God, these constituted the solid 
basis of his character. These were all implanted and 
carefully cultivated by his mother, and he always spoke 
of her with the deepest respect and the most tender affec- 
tion. " All that I am, or hope to be," said he, when 
President, " I owe to my sainted mother." 

He early manifested the most eager desire to learn, 
but there were no libraries, and few books in the back 
settlements in which he lived. Among the stray volumes 
which he found in the possession of the illiterate families 
by which he was surrounded, were ^sop's Fables, Bun- 
yan's Pilgrim's Progress, a life of Washington, the poems 
3 



34 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

of Burns, and the Bible. To these his reading was con- 
fined, and he read them over and over again, until they 
became as familiar almost as the alphabet. His memory 
was marvelous, and I never yet met the man more 
familiar with the Bible than Abraham Lincoln. This 
was apparent in after life, both from his conversation and 
writings, scarcely a speech or state paper of his in which 
illustrations and illusions from the Bible cannot be 
found. 

While a young man, he made for himself, of coarse 
paper, a scrap-book, into which he copied everything 
which particularly pleased him. He found an old English 
grammar, which he studied by himself ; and he formed, 
from his constant study of the Bible, that simple, plain, 
clear Anglo-Saxon style, so effective with the people. He 
illustrated the maxim that it is better to know thoroughly 
a few good books than to skim over many. When fifteen \ 
years old, he began (with a view of improving himself) to | 
write on various subjects and to practice in making politi- \ 
cal and other speeches. These he made so amusing and 
attractive that his father had to forbid his makine them 
in working-hours, for, said he, " when Abe begins to speak, 
all the hands flock to hear him." His memory was so 
retentive that he could repeat, verbatim, the sermons and 
political speeches which he heard. 

While his days were spent in hard manual labor, and 
his evenings in study, he grew up strong in body, health- 
ful in mind, with no bad habits ; no stain of intemperance, 
profanity or vice of any kind. He used neither tobacco 
nor intoxicating drinks, and, thus living, he grew to be 
six feet four inches high, and a giant in strength. In all 



jB¥ ISAAC N. ARNOLD, 35 

athletic sports he had no equal. I have heard an old 
comrade say, "he could strike the hardest blow with the 
woodman's axe, and the maul of the rail-splitter, jump 
higher, run faster than any of his fellows, and there were 
none, far or near, who could lay him on his back." Kind 
and cordial, he early developed so much wit and humor, 
such a capacity for narrative and story-telling, that he was 
everywhere a most welcome guest. 

A LAND SURVEYOR. 

Like Washington, he became, in early life, a good prac- 
tical surveyor, and I have in my library the identical 
book from which, at eighteen years of age, he studied the 
art of surveying. By his skill and accuracy, and by the 
neatness of his work, he was sought after by the settlers, 
to survey and fix the boundaries of their farms, and in 
this way, In part, he earned a support while he studied 
law. In 1837, self-taught, he was admitted and licensed, 
by the Supreme Court of Illinois, to practice law. 

A LAWYER. 

It Is difficult for me to describe, and, perhaps, more 
difficult for you to conceive the contrast when Lincoln 
began to practice law, between the forms of the adminis- 
tration of justice in Westminster Hall, and in the rude 
log court-houses of Illinois. I recall to-day what was said 
a few years ago by an Illinois friend, when we visited, for 
the first time, Westminster Abbey, and as we passed Into 
Westminster Hall. "This," he exclaimed, "this is the 



36 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

grandest forum in the world. Here Fox, Burke, and 
Sheridan hurled their denunciations against Warren Hast- 
ino-s. Here Brougham defended Oueen Caroline. And 
this," he went on to repeat, in the words of Macaulay, 
(words as familiar in America as here), "This is the great 
hall of William Rufus, the hall which has resounded with 
acclamations at the inauguration of thirty kings, and 
which has witnessed the trials of Bacon and Somers and 
Strafford and Charles the First." "And yet," I replied, 
" I have seen justice administered on the prairies of Illi- 
nois without pomp or ceremony, everything simple to 
rudeness, and yet when Lincoln and Douglass led at that 
bar, I have seen justice administered by judges as pure, 
aided by advocates as eloquent, if not as learned, as any 
who ever presided, or plead, in Westminster Hall." 

The common law of England (said to be the perfection 
of human wisdom) was administered in both forums, and 
the decisions of each tribunal were cited as authority in 
the other ; both illustrating that reverence for, and obedi- 
ence to, law, which is the glory of the English-speaking 
race. 

Lincoln was a great lawyer. He sought to convince 
rather by the application of principle than by the citation 
of authorities. On the whole, he was stronger with the 
jury than with the court. I do not know that there has 
ever been, in America, a greater or more successful advo- 
cate before a jury, on the right side, than Abraham 
Lincoln. He had a marvelous power of conciliating and 
impressing every one in his favor. A stranger entering the 
court, ignorant of the case, and listening a few moments 
to Lincoln, would find himself involuntarily on his side 



BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 37 

and wishing him success. He was a quick and accurate 
reader of cliaracter, and seemed to comprehend, almost 
intuitively, the peculiarities of those with whom he came 
in contact. His manner was so candid, his methods so 
direct, so fair, he seemed so anxious that truth and 
justice should prevail, that every one wished him success. 
He excelled in the statement of his case. However com- 
plicated, he would disentangle it, and present the impor- 
tant and turning-point in a way so clear that all could 
understand. Indeed, his statement often alone won his 
cause, rendering argument unnecessary. The judges 
would often stop him by saying, *' If that is the case, 
brother Lincoln, we will hear the other side." 

His ability in examining a witness, in bringing out 
clearly the important facts, was only surpassed by his 
skillful cross-examinations, He could often compel a wit- 
ness to tell the truth, where he meant to lie. He could 
make a jury laugh, and generally weep, at his pleasure. 
On the right side, and when fraud or injustice were to be 
exposed, or innocence vindicated, he rose to the highest 
range of eloquence, and was irresistible. But he must 
have faith in his cause to bring out his full strength. His 
wit and humor, his quaint and homely illustrations, his 
inexhaustible stores of anecdote, always to the point, 
added greatly to his power as a jury-advocate. 

He never misstated evidence or misrepresented his 
opponent's case, but met it fairly and squarely. 

He remained in active practice until his nomination, 
in May, i860, for the presidency. He was employed in 
the leading cases in both the federal and state courts, 
and had a large clientelage not only in Illinois, but 



38 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

was frequently called, on special retainers, to other 
States. 

AN ILLINOIS POLITICIAN. 

By his eloquence and popularity he became, early in 
life, the leader of the old Whig party, in Illinois. He 
served as member of the State Legislature, was the 
candidate of his party for speaker, presidential elector, 
and United States senator, and was a member of the 
lower house of Congress. 



SLAVERY. 

When the independence of the American republic 
was established, African slavery was tolerated as a local 
and temporary institution. It was in conflict with the 
moral sense, the religious convictions of the people, and 
the political principles on which the government was 
founded. 

But having been tolerated, it soon became an organ- 
ized aggressive power, and, later, it became the master 
of the government. Conscious of its inherent weakness, 
it demanded and obtained additional territory for its 
expansion. First, the great Louisiana territory was 
purchased, then Florida, and then Texas. 

By the repeal, in 1854, of the prohibition of slavery 
north of the line of 36°, 30' of latitude (known in Amer- 
ica as the " Missouri Compromise"), the slavery question 
became the leading one in American politics, and the 
absorbing and exciting topic of discussion. It shattered 
into fragments the old conservative Whig party, with 



£V ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 39 

which Mr. Lincoln had, theretofore, acted. It divided 
the Democratic party, and new parties were organized 
upon issues growing directly out of the question of 
slavery. 

The leader of that portion of the Democratic party 
which continued, for a time, to act with the slavery party, 
was Stephen Arnold Douglas, then representing Illinois 
in the United States Senate. He was a bold, ambitious, 
able man, and had, thus far, been uniformly successful. 
He had introduced and carried through Congress, 
against the most vehement opposition, the repeal of the 
law prohibiting slavery, called the Missouri Compromise. 

THE CONTEST BETWEEN FREEDOM AND SLAVERY IN THE 

TERRITORIES. 

The issue having been now distinctly made between 
freedom and the extension of slavery into the territories, 
Lincoln and Douglas, the leaders of the Free-soil and 
Democratic parties, became more than ever antagonized. 
The conflict between freedom and slavery now became 
earnest, fierce, and violent, beyond all previous political 
controversies, and from this time on, Lincoln plead the 
cause of liberty with an energy, ability, and eloquence, 
which rapidly gained for him a national reputation. 
From this time on, through the tremendous struggle, it 
was he who grasped the helm and led his party to victory. 
Conscious of a great cause, inspired by a generous love of 
liberty, and animated by the moral sublimity of his great 
theme, he proclaimed his determination, ever thereafter, 
"to speak for freedom, and against slavery, until every- 



40 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

where the sun shall shine, the rain shall fall, and the wind 
blow upon no man who goes forth to unrequited toil." 



THE LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS DEBATE. 

The great debate between Lincoln and Douglas, in 
1858, was, unquestionably, both with reference to the 
ability of the speakers and its influence upon opinion and 
events, the most important in American history. I do 
not think I do injustice to others, nor over-estimate their 
importance, when I say that the speeches of Lincoln pub- 
lished, circulated, and read throughout the Free States, 
did more than any other agency in creating the public 
opinion, which prepared the way for the overthrow of 
slavery. The speeches of John Quincy Adams, and those 
of Senator Sumner, were more learned and scholarly, 
and those of Lovejoy and Wendell Phillips were more 
vehement and impassioned ; Senators Seward, Chase, and 
Hale spoke from a more conspicuous forum, but Lincoln's 
speeches were as philosophic, as able, as earnest as any, 
and his manner had a simplicity and directness, a clear- 
ness of illustration, and his language a plainness, a vigor, 
an Anglo-Saxon strength, better adapted than any other, 
to reach and influence the understandinsf and sentiment 
of the common people. 

At the time of this memorable discussion, both Lincoln 
and Douglas were in the full maturity of their powers, 
Douglas being forty-five and Lincoln forty-nine years old. 
Douglas had had a long training and experience as a 
popular speaker. On the hustings (stump, as we say in 
America) and in Congress, and, especially in the United 



BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 41 

States Senate, he had been accustomed to meet the ablest 
debaters of his State and of the Nation. 

His friends insisted that never, either in conflict with 
a single opponent, or when repelling the assaults of a 
whole party, had he been discomfited. His manner was 
bold, vigorous, and aggressive. He was ready, fertile in 
resources, familiar with political history, strong and severe 
in denunciation, and he handled, with skill, all the 
weapons of the dialectician His iron will, tireless energy, 
united with physical and moral courage, and great per- 
sonal magnetism, made him a natural leader, and gave 
him personal popularity. 

Lincoln was also now a thoroughly trained speaker. 
He had contended successfully at the bar, in the legisla- 
ture, and before the people, with the ablest men of the 
West, including Douglas, with whom he always rather 
sought than avoided a discussion. But he was a courte- 
eus and generous opponent, as is illustrated by the follow- 
ing beautiful allusion to his rival, made in 1856, in one 
of their joint debates. "Twenty years ago, Judge Doug- 
las and I hrst became acquainted ; we were both young 
then ; he a trifle younger than I. Even then, we were 
both ambitious, I, perhaps, quite as much as he. With 
me, the race of ambition has been a flat failure. With 
him, it has been a splendid success. His name fills the 
nation, and it is not unknown in foreio;n lands. I affect 
no contempt for the high eminence he has reached ; so 
reached, that the oppressed of my species might have 
shared with me in the elevation, I would rather stand on 
that eminence than wear the richest crown that ever 
pressed a monarch's brow." 



42 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

' We know, and the world knows, that Lincoln did 
reach that high, nay, far higher eminence, and that he 
did reach it in such away that the "oppressed" did share 
with him in the elevation. 

Such were the champions who, in 1858, were to dis- 
cuss, before the voters of Illinois, and with the whole 
nation as spectators, the political questions then pending, 
and especially the vital questions relating to slavery. It 
was not a single combat, but extended through a whole 
campaign. 

On the return of Douglas from Washington, to 
Illinois, in July, 1858, Lincoln and Douglas being candi- 
dates for the Senate, the former challenged his rival to a 
series of joint debates, to be held at the principal towns 
in the State. The challenge was accepted, and it was 
agreed that each discussion should occupy three hours, 
that the speakers should alternate in the opening and the 
close — the opening speech to occupy one hour, the reply 
one hour and a-half, and the close half an hour. The 
meetings were held in the open air, for no hall could hold 
the vast crowds which attended. 

In addition to the immense mass of hearers, reporters, 
from all the principal newspapers in the country, attended, 
so that the morning after each debate, the speeches were 
published, and eagerly read by a large part, perhaps a 
majority, of all the voters of the United States.' 

The attention of the American people was thus 
arrested, and they watched with intense interest, and 
devoured every argument of the champions. 

Each of these great men, I doubt not, at that time, 
sincerely believed he was right. Douglas's ardor, while 



BY ISAAC N, ARNOLD. 43 

In such a conflict, would make him think, for the time 
being, he was right, and I k7iozv that Lincoln argued for 
freedom against the extension of slavery with the most 
profound conviction that on the result hung the fate of 
his country. Lincoln had two advantages over Douglas; 
jhe had the best side of the question, and the best temper. 
He was always good-humored, always had an apt story 
for illustration, while Douglas sometimes, when hard 
pressed, was irritable. 

Douglas carried away the most popular applause, but 
Lincoln made the deeper and more lasting impression. 
Douglas did not disdain an immediate ad captandum 
triumph, while Lincoln aimed at permanent conviction. 
Sometimes, when Lincoln's friends urged him to raise a 
storm of applause (which he could always do by his 
happy illustrations and amusing stories), he refused, say- 
ing the occasion was too serious, the issue too grave. 
" I do not seek applause," said he, " nor to amuse the 
people ; I want to convince them." 

It was often observed, during this canvass, that while 
Douglas was sometimes greeted with the loudest cheers, 
when Lincoln closed, the people seemed solemn and 
serious, and could be heard, all through the crowd, 
gravely and anxiously discussing the topics on which he 
had been speaking. 

Douglas secured the immediate object of the strug- 
gle, but the manly bearing, the vigorous logic, the hon- 
esty and sincerity, the great intellectual powers, exhibited 
by Mr. Lincoln, prepared the way, and, two years later, 
secured his nomination and election to the presidency. 
It is a touching incident, illustrating the patriotism of 



44 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

both these statesmen, that, widely as they differed, and 
keen as had been their rivalry, just as soon as the life of 
the republic was menaced by treason, they joined, 
hands, to shield and save the country they loved. I 

The echo and the prophecy of this great debate was 
heard, and inspired hope in the far-off cotton and rice- 
fields of the South. The toiling blacks, to use the words 
of Whittier, began hopefully to pray : 

" We pray de Lord He gib us signs 
Dat some day Ave be free. 
De Norf wind tell it to de pines, 
De wild duck to de sea. 

"We tink it when de church-bell ring, 
We dream it in de dream, 
De rice-bird mean it when he sing, 
De eagle when he scream." 

THE COOPER INSTITUTE SPEECH. 

In February, i860, Mr. Lincoln was called to address 
the people of New York, and, speaking to a vast audi- 
ence, at the Cooper Institute (the Exeter Hall of the 
United States), the poet Bryant presiding, he made, 
perhaps, the most learned, logical, and exhaustive 
speech to be found in American anti-slavery litera- 
ture. The question was, the power of the National 
Government to exclude slavery from the territories. 
The orator from the prairies, the mornine after this 
speech, awoke to find himself famous. 

He closed with these words, '' Let us have faith that 
right makes might, and in that faith let us, to the end, 
do our duty as we understand it." 



BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 45 

This address was the carefully finished product of, 
not an orator and statesman only, but also of an accurate 
student of American history. It confirmed and elevated 
the reputation he had already acquired in the Douglas 
debates, and caused his nomination and election to the 
presidency. 

If time permitted, I would like to follow Mr. Lincoln, 
step by step, to enumerate his measures one after another, 
until, by prudence and courage, and matchless states- 
manship, he led the loyal people of the republic to the 
final and complete overthrow of slavery and the resto- 
ration of the Union. 

From the time he left his humble home, in Illinois, 
to assume the responsibilities of power, the political 
horizon black with treason and rebellion, the terrific 
thunder-clouds, — the tempest which had been gathering 
and growing more black and threatening for years, now 
ready to explode, — on and on, through long years of 
bloody war, down to his final triumph and death — what 
a drama! His eventful life terminated by his tragic 
death, has it not the dramatic unities and the awful 
ending of the Old Greek tragedy ? 

HIS FAREWELL TO HIS NEIGHBORS. 

I know of nothing, in history, more pathetic than the 
scene when he bade good-bye to his old friends and 
neighbors. Conscious of the difficulties and dangers 
before him, difficulties which seemed almost insurmount- 
able', with a sadness as though a presentiment that he 
should return no more was pressing upon him, but with 



46 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

a deep religious trust which was characteristic, on the. 
platform of the rail-carriage, which was to bear him away 
to the capital, he paused and said, " No one can realize 
the sadness I feel at this parting. Here I have lived more 
than a quarter of a century. Here my children were 
born, and here one of them lies burled. I know not how 
soon I shall see you again. I go to assume a task more 
difficult than that which has devolved upon any other 
man since the days of Washington. He never would 
have succeeded but for the aid of Divine Providence, 
upon which, at all times, he relied. * ■» * j 
hope you, my dear friends, will all pray that I may receive 
that Divine assistance, without which I cannot succeed, 
but with which, success Is certain." 

And as he waved his hand in farewell to the old 
home, to which he was never to return, he heard the 
response from many old friends, " God bless and keep 
you." " God protect you from all traitors." His neigh- 
bors "sorrowing most of all," for the fear "that they 
should see his face no more." 



ins INAUGURAL AND APPEAL FOR PEACE. 

In his Inaugural address, spoken In the open air, and 
from the eastern portico of the Capitol, and heard by 
thrice ten thousand people, on the very verge of civil 
war, he made a most earnest appeal for peace. He gave 
the most solemn assurance, that "the property, peace, 
and security of no portion of the republic should be 
endangered by his administration." But he declared, 
with firmness, that the union of the States must be " per- 



BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 47 

petual," and that he should "execute the laws faithfully 
in every State." " In doing this," said he, "there need be 
no bloodshed nor violence, nor shall there be, unless 
forced upon the national authority." In regard to the 
difficulties which thus divided the people, he appealed to 
all to abstain from precipitate action, assuring them that 
intelligence, patriotism, and a firm reliance on Him, who 
has never yet forsaken the republic, " were competent 
to adjust, in the best way, all existing troubles." 

His closing appeal, against civil war, was most touch- 
ing, " In your hands," said he, and his voice for the first 
time faltered, "In your hands, and not in mine, are the 
momentous issues of civil war." '"*■ " "You can 

have no conflict without beino^ yourselves the aesfressors." 
* * "I am," continued he, "loath to close; we are 
not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. 
Though passion may strain, it must not break, the bonds 
of affection." 

The answer to these appeals was the attack upon 
Fort Sumter, and immediately broke loose all the mad- 
dening passions which riot in blood and carnage and 
civil war. 

I know not how I can better picture and illustrate 
the condition of affairs, and of public feeling, at that 
time, than by narrating two or three incidents. 

Douglas's prophecy, January i, 1861. 

In January, 1861, Senator Douglas, then lately a can- 
didate for the presidency, with Mrs. Douglas, one of the 
beautiful and fascinating women in America, a relative 



48 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



of Mrs. Madison, occupied, at Washington, one of the 
most magnificent blocks of dwellings, called the " Minne- 
sota Block." On New Year's day, 1861, General Charles 
Stewart, of New York, from whose lips I write an 
account of the incident, says, 

" I was making a New Year's call on Senator Doug- 
las ; after some conversation, I asked him, 

" ' What will be the result. Senator, of the efforts of 
Jefferson Davis, and his associates, to divide the Union ?' 
We were," said Stewart, " sitting on the sofa together, 
when I asked the question. Douglas rose, walked 
rapidly up and down the room for a moment, and then 
pausing, he exclaimed, with deep feeling and excitement: 

" ' The Cotton States are making an effort to draw in 
the Border States, to their schemes of secession, and I 
am but too fearful they will succeed. If they do, there 
will be the most fearful civil war the world has ever seen, 
lasting for years.' 

" Pausing a moment, he looked like one inspired, 
while he proceeded : ' Virginia, over yonder, across the 
Potomac,' pointing toward Arlington, 'will become a char- 
nel-house — but in the end the Union will triumph. They 
will try,' he continued, ' to get possession of this capital, 
to give them prestige abroad, but in that effort they will 
never succeed ; the North will rise en masse to defend it. 
But Washington will become a city of hospitals, the 
churches will be used for the sick and wounded. This 
house,' he continued, ' the Minnesota Block, will be 
devoted to that purpose before the end of the war.' 

" Every word he said was literally fulfilled — all the 
churches nearly were used for the wounded, and the 



jBV ISAAC JV. ARNOLD. 



49 



Minnesota Block, and the very room In which this decla- 
ration was made, became the ' Douglas Hospital.' 

" What justification for all this ? ' said Stewart. 

" 'There is no justification,' replied Douglas. 

" * I will go as far as the Constitution will permit to 
maintain their just rights. But,' said he, rising upon his 
feet and raising his arm, * if the Southern States attempt 
to secede, I am in favor of their having just so many- 
slaves, and just so much slave territory, as they can hold 
at the point of the bayonet, and no more.' " 

WILL THE NORTH FIGHT? 

Many Southern leaders believed there would be no 
serious war, and labored industriously to impress this 
idea on the Southern people. 

Benjamin F. Butler, who, as a delegate from Massa- 
chusetts, to the Charlestown Convention, had voted 
many times for Breckenridge, the extreme Southern 
candidate for president, came to Washington, in the win- 
ter of 1 860- 1, to inquire of his old associates what they 
meant by their threats. 

"We mean," replied they, "we mean separation — a 
Southern Confederacy. We will have our independence,, 
a Southern government — with no discordant elements." 

"Are you prepared for war?" said Butler, coolly. 

" Oh, there will be no war ; the North won't fight." 

" The North zvill fight," said Butler; " the North will 
send the last man and expend the last dollar to maintain 
the Government." 

" But," replied Butler's Southern friends, " the North, 
can't fight, we have too many allies there." 

4 \ 



50 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

"You have friends," responded Butler, "in the North, 
who will stand by you so long as you fight your battles 
in the Union, but the moment you fire on the flag, the 
North will be a unit against you. And," Butler con- 
tinued, "you may be assured that if war comes, slav- 
ery ends'' 

THE SPECIAL SESSION OF CONGRESS, JULY, 1 86 1 

On the brink of this civil war, the President sum- 
moned Congress to meet on the 4th of July, 1861, the 
anniversary of our independence. Seven States had 
already seceded, were in open revolt, and the chairs of 
their representatives, in both houses of Congress, were 
vacant. It needed but a glance at these so numerous 
vacant seats to realize the extent of the defection, the 
gravity of the situation, and the magnitude of the impend- 
ing struggle. The old pro-slavery leaders were absent, 
some in the rebel government, set up at Richmond, 
and others marshalling troops in the field. Hostile 
armies were gathering, and from the dome of the Cap- 
itol, across the Potomac and on toward Fairfax, in 
Virginia, could be seen the Confederate flag. 

Breckenridge, late the Southern candidate for Presi- ^ 
dent, now Senator from Kentucky, and soon to lead a \ 
rebel army, still lingered in the Senate. Like Catiline 
among the Roman Senators, he was regarded with 
aversion and distrust. Gloomy and, perhaps, sorrowful, 
he said, " I can only look with sadness on the melancholy 
>drama that is being enacted." 

Pardon the digression, while I relate an incident 
•which occurred in the Senate, at this special session. 



BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 51 

Senator Baker, of Oregon, was making a brilliant and 
impassioned reply to a speech of Breckenridge, in which 
he denounced the Kentucky Senator, for giving aid and 
encouragement to the enemy, by his speeches. At 
length he paused, and, turning toward Breckenridge, and 
fixing his eye upon him, asked, " What would have been 
thought if, after the battle of Cannae, a Roman Senator 
had risen, amidst the Conscript Fathers, and denounced 
the war, and opposed all measures for its success." 

Baker paused, and every eye in the Senate, and in 
the crowded galleries, was fixed upon the almost solitary 
senator from Kentucky. Fessenden broke the painful 
silence, by exclaiming, in low deep tones, which gave 
expression to the thrill of indignation which ran through 
the hall, " He would have been hurled from the Tarpeian 
Rock." 

Congress manifested its sense of the gravity of the 
situation by authorizing a loan of two hundred and fifty 
millions of dollars, and enpowering the President to call 
into the field five hundred thousand men, and as many 
more as he might deem necessary. 

SURRENDER OF MASON AND SLIDELL. 

No act of the British Government, since the " stamp 
act" of the Revolution, has ever excited such intense 
feeling of hostility toward Great Britain, as her haughty 
demand for the surrender of Mason and Slidell. It 
required fierve, in the President, to stem the storm of 
popular feeling, and yield to that demand, and it was, 
for a time, the most unpopular act of his administra- 



52 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

tlon. But when the excitement of the day had passed, 
it was approved by the sober judgment of the nation. 

Prince Albert is kindly and gratefully remembered in 
America, where it is believed that his action, in modify- 
ing the terms of that demand, probably saved the United 
States and Great Britain from the horrors of war. 

LINCOLN AND THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY. 

When in June, 1858, at his home in Springfield, 
Mr. Lincoln startled the people with the declaration, 
" This government cannot endure, permanently, half slave 
and half free," and when, at the close of his speech, to those 
who were laboring for the ultimate extinction of slavery, 
he exclaimed, with the voice of a prophet, " We shall 
not fail, if we stand firm, we shall not fail. Wise 
councils may accelerate, or mistakes delay, but sooner 
or later, the victory is sure to come ;" he anticipated 
success, through years of discussion, and final triumph 
through peaceful and constitutional means by the ballot. 
He did not foresee, nor even dream (unless in those 
dim mysterious shadows, which sometimes startle by 
half revealing the future), his own elevation to the 
presidency. He did not then suspect that he had been 
appointed by God, and should be chosen by the people, 
to proclaim the emancipation of a race, and to save his I 
country. He did not foresee that slavery was so soon -{ 
to be destroyed, amidst the flames of war which itself 
kindled. 

HIS MODERATION. 

He entered upon his administration with the single 



BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 53 

purpose of maintaining national unity, and many 
reproached and denounced him for the slowness of his 
anti-slavery measures. The first of the series was the abo- 
lition of slavery at the National Capitol. This act gave 
freedom to three thousand slaves, with compensation to 
their loyal masters. Contemporaneous with this was 
an act conferring freedom upon all colored soldiers who 
should serve in the Union armies and upon their 
families. The next was an act which I had the honor 
to introduce, prohibiting slavery in all the territories, 
and wherever the National Government had jurisdiction. 
But the great, the decisive act of his administration, 
was the " Emancipation Proclamation." 

EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. 

The President had urged, with the utmost earnest- 
ness, on the loyal slave-holders of the Border States, 
gradual and compensated emancipation, but in vain. He 
clearly saw, all saw, that the slaves, as used by the Con- 
federates, were a vast power, contributing immensely 
to their ability to carry on the war, and that, by declar- 
ins: their freedom, he would convert millions of freedmen 
into active friends and allies of the Union. The people 
knew that he was deliberating upon the question of issu- 
Union men of the Border States made an appeal to him 
to withhold the edict, and suffer slavery to survive. 

They selected John J. Crittenden, a venerable and 
eloquent man, and their ablest statesman, to make, on the 
floor of Congress, a public appeal to the President, to 
withhold the proclamation. Mr. Crittenden had been 



54 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 

governor of Kentucky, her senator in Congress, attor- 
ney-general of the United States, and now, in his old 
age, covered with honors, he accepted, like John Quincy 
Adams, a seat in Congress, that in this crisis he might 
help to save his country. 

He was a sincere Union man, but believed it unwise 
to disturb slavery. In his speech he made a most 
eloquent and touching appeal, from a Kentuckian to a 
Kentuckian. He said, among other things, " There is a 
niche, near to that of Washington, to him who shall save 
his country. If Mr. Lincoln will step into that niche, 
Xho. founder and t\\e preserver of the Republic shall stand 
side by side." * * Owen Lovejoy, the brother 
of Elijah P. Lovejoy, who had been mobbed and mur- 
dered because he would not surrender the liberty of the 
press, replied to Crittenden. After his brother's murder, 
kneeling upon the green sod which covered that brother's 
grave, he had taken a solemn vow, of eternal war upon 
slavery. Ever after, like Peter the Hermit, with a heart 
of fire and a tongue of lightning, he had gone forth, 
preaching his crusade against slavery. At length, in his 
reply, turning to Crittenden, he said, "The gentleman 
from Kentucky says he has a niche for Abraham Lin- 
coln, where is it ? " 

Crittenden pointed toward heaven. 

Lovejoy continuing said, " He points upward, but, sir ! 
if the President follows the counsel of that g^entleman, 
and becomes the perpetuator of slavery, he should point 
downward, to some dungeon in the temple of Moloch, 
who feeds on human blood, and where are forged chains 
for human limbs ; in the recesses of whose temple woman 



BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 



55 



is scourged and man tortured, and outside the walls are 
lying dogs, gorged with human flesh, as Byron describes 
them, lying around the walls of Stamboul." "That," 
said Lovejoy, " is a suitable place for the statue of him 
who would perpetuate slavery." 

" I, too," said he, "have a temple for Abraham Lin- 
coln, but it is in Freedom's holy fane, « * * 
not surrounded by slave fetters and chains, but with the 
symbols of freedom — not dark with bondage, but radiant 
with the light of Liberty. In that niche he shall stand 
proudly, nobly, gloriously, with broken chains and slave's 
whips beneath his feet. * * That is a fame 
worth living for, aye, more, it is a fame worth dying for, 
though that death led through Gethsemane and the 
agony of the accursed tree." ''^ * '^' 

" It is said," continued he, " that Wilberforce went up 
to the judgment-seat with the broken chains of eight 
hundred thousand slaves ! Let Lincoln make himself 
the Liberator, and his name shall be enrolled, not only 
in this earthly temple, but it shall be traced on the living 
stones of that temple which is reared amid the thrones 
of Heaven." 

Lovejoy's prophecy has been fulfilled — in this world — 
you see the statues to Lincoln, with broken chains at his 
feet, rising all over the world, and — in that other world — 
few will doubt that the prophecy has been realized. 

In September, I862, after the Confederates, by their 
defeat at the great battle of Antietam, had been driven 
back from Maryland and Pennsylvania, Lincoln issued 
the Proclamation. It is a fact, illustrating his character, 
and showing that there was in him what many would call 



56- ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

a tinge of superstition, that he declared, to Secretary 
Chase, that he had made a solemn vow to God, saying, 
" if General Lee is driven back from Pennsylvania, I 
will crown the result with the declaration of Freedom 
TO THE Slave." The final Proclamation was issued on 
the first of January, 1863. In obedience to American 
custom, he had been receiving calls on that New Year's 
day, and, for hours, shaking hands. As the paper was 
brought to him by the Secretary of State, to be signed, he 
said, ** Mr. Seward, I have been shaking hands all day, 
and my right hand is almost paralyzed. If my name 
ever gets into history, it will be for this act, and my whole 
soul is in it. If my hand trembles when I sign the proc- 
lamation, those who examine the document hereafter, 
will say, ' he hesitated.' " 

Then, resting his arm a moment, he turned to the 
table, took up the pen, and slowly and firmly wrote 
Abraham Lincobt. He smiled as, handing the paper to 
Mr. Seward, he said, "that will do." 

From this day, to its final triumph, the tide of victory 
seemed to set more and more in favor of the Union 
cause. The capture of Vicksburg, the victory of Gettys- 
burg, Chattanooga, Chickamauga, Lookout-Mountain, 
Missionary Ridge, Sheridan's brilliant campaign in the Val- 
ley of the Shenandoah ; Thomas's decisive victory at 
Nashville ; Sherman's march, through the Confederacy, to 
the sea ; the capture of Fort McAllister ; the sinking of 
the Alabama; the taking of Mobile by Farragut ; the 
occupation of Columbus, Charlestown, Savannah ; the 
evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond ; the surrender 
of Lee to Grant ; the taking of Jefferson Davis a 



BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. .57 

prisoner ; the triumph everywhere of the national arms ; 
such were the events which followed (though with delays 
and bloodshed) the "Proclamation of Emancipation." 

THE AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

Meanwhile Lincoln had been triumphantly re-elected ; 
Congress had, as before stated, abolished slavery at the 
Capital, prohibited it in all the territories, declared all 
negro soldiers in the Union armies, and their families, 
free, and had repealed all laws which sanctioned or recog- 
nized slavery, and the President had crowned and con- 
summated all, by the Proclamation of Emancipation. 
One thing alone remained to perfect, confirm, and make 
everlastingly permanent these measures, and this was to 
embody in the Constitution itself, the prohibition of slav- 
ery everywhere within the republic. 

To change the organic law required the adoption by 
a two-thirds vote of a joint resolution, by Congress, and 
that this should be submitted to, and ratified by, two- 
thirds of the States. 

The President, in his annual message and in personal 
interviews with members of Congress, urged the passage 
of such resolution. To test the strength of the measure, 
in the House of Representatives, I had the honor, in 
February, 1864, to introduce the following resolution : 

" Resolved, That the Constitution should be so 
amended as to abolish slavery in the United States 
wherever it now exists, and to prohibit its existence in 
every part thereof forever" (Cong. Globe, vol. 50, p. 659). 
This was adopted by a decided vote, and was the first 



58 . ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

resolution ever passed by Congress In favor of the entire 
abolition of slavery. But, although it received a majority, 
it did not receive a majority of two-thirds. 

The debates on the Constitutional Amendment 
(perhaps the greatest in our congressional history, cer- 
tainly the most important since the adoption of the Con- 
stitution) ran through two sessions of Congress. Charles 
Sumner, the learned Senator from Massachusetts, brought 
to the discussion, in the Senate, his ample stores of his- 
torical illustration, quoting largely in its favor from the 
historians, poets, and statesmen of the past. 

The resolution was adopted in the Senate by the 
large vote of ayes, '^^, noes, 6. 

In the lower house, at the first session, it failed to 
obtain a two-thirds' vote, and, on a motion to reconsider, 
went over to the next session. 

Mr. Lincoln again earnestly urged its adoption, and, 
in a letter to Illinois friends, he said, " The sl^ns look 
better. * * Peace does not look so distant as 
it did. I hope it will come soon, and come to stay, and 
so come as to be worth keeping in all future time." 

I recall, very vividly, my New Year's call upon the 
President, January, 1864. I said: 

" I hope, Mr. President, one year from to-day I may 
have the pleasure of congratulating you on the occurrence 
of three events which now seem probable." 

" What are they ? " inquired he. 

" I. That the rebellion may be entirely crushed. 

" 2. That the Constitutional Amendment, abolishing 
and prohibiting slavery, may have been adopted. 



BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 59 

"3. And that Abraham Lincoln may have been 
re-elected President." 

" I think," replied he, with a smile, " I would be glad 
to accept the first two as a compromise." 

General Grant, in a letter, remarkable for that clear 
good-sense and practical judgment for which he is distin- 
guished, condensed into a single sentence the political 
argument in favor of the Constitutional Amendment. 
"The North and South," said he, "can never live at 
peace with each other except as one nation and that with- 
out slavery. ^^ ' 

Garfield's speech. 

I would be glad to quote from this great debate, but 
must confine myself to a brief extract from the speech of 
the present President, then a member of the House. 
He began by saying, " Mr. Speaker, we shall never know 
why slavery dies so hard in this republic, and in this 
hall, until we know why sin outlives disaster and Satan 
is immortal." * * " How well do I remember," 
he continued, " the history of that distinguished pre- 
decessor of mine, Joshua R. Giddings, lately gone to his 
rest, who, with his forlorn hope of faithful men, took his 
life in his hands, and, in the name of justice, protested 
against the great crime, and who stood bravely in his 
place until his white locks, like the plume of Henry of 
Navarre, marked where the battle of freedom raged 
fiercest." * * "In its mad arrogance, slavery 
lifted its hand against the Union, and since that fatal day 
it has been a fugitive and a vagabond upon the earth." 

Up to the last roll-call, on the question of the passage 



6o ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

of the resolution, we were uncertain and anxious about 
the result. We needed Democratic votes. We knew 
we should get some, but whether enough to carry the 
measure none could surely tell. 

As the Clerk called the names of members so perfect 
was the silence, that the sound of a hundred pencils keep- 
ing tally could be heard through the Hall. 

Finally, when the call was completed, and the Speaker 
announced that the resolution was adopted, the result 
was received by an uncontrollable burst of enthusiasm. 
Members and spectators (especially the galleries, which 
were crowded with convalescent soldiers) shouted and 
cheered, and, before the Speaker could obtain quiet, the 
roar of artillery on Capitol Hill proclaimed to the city of 
Washington, the passage of the resolution. Congress 
adjourned, and we hastened to the White House to con- 
gratulate the President on the event. 

He made one of his happiest speeches. In his own 
peculiar words, he said, " The great job is finished.'' " I 
can not but congratulate," said he, " all present, myself, 
the country, and the whole world, on this great moral 
victory." 

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 

And now, with an attempt to sketch very briefly some 
of his peculiar personal characteristics, I must close. 

This great Hercules of a man had a heart as kind 
and tender as a woman. Sterner men thougrht it a 
weakness. It saddened him to see others suffer, and he 
shrunk from inflicting pain. Let me illustrate his kind- 
ness and tenderness by one or two incidents. One sum- 



BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 6i 

mer's day, walking along the shaded path leading from 
the Executive mansion to the War-office, I saw the tall, 
awkward form of the President seated on the grass under 
a tree. A wounded soldier, seeking back-pa}' and a pen- 
sion, had met the President, and, having recognized him, 
asked his counsel. Lincoln sat down, examined the 
papers of the soldier, and told him what to do, sent him 
to the proper bureau with a note, which secured prompt 
attention. 

After the terribly destructive battles between Grant 
and Lee, in the Wilderness of Virginia, after days of 
dreadful slaughter, the lines of ambulances, conveying 
the wounded from the steamers on the Potomac to the 
great field hospitals on the heights around Washington, 
would be continuous, — one unbroken line from the wharf 
to the hospital. At such a time, I have seen the Pres- 
ident in his carriage, driving slowly along the line, and he 
looked like one who had lost the dearest members of his 
own family. On one such occasion, meeting me, he 
stopped and said, " I cannot bear this ; this suffering, 
this loss of life — is dreadful." 

I recalled to him a line from a letter he had years 
before written to a friend, whose great sorrow he had 
sought to console. Reminding him of the incident, I 
asked him, *' So you remember writing to your suffering 
friend these words : 

*' And this too shall pass away. 
Never fear. Victory will come.^^ 

In all his State papers and speeches during these 
years of strife and passion, there can be found no words 



62 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

of bitterness, no denunciation. When others railed, he 
railed not again. He was always dignified, magnanimous, 
patient, considerate, manly, and true. His duty was 
ever performed "with malice toward none, with charity 
for all," and with " firmness in the right as God gives us 
to see the right." 

NEVER A DEMAGOGUE. 

Lincoln was never a demagogue. He respected and 
loved the people, but never flattered them. No man 
ever heard him allude to his humble life and manual 
labor, in a way to obtain votes. None knew better than 
he, that splitting rails did not qualify a man for public 
duties. He realized painfully the defects of his educa- 
tion, and labored diligently and successfully to supply 
his deficiencies. 

HIS CONVERSATION. 

1 le had no equal as a talker in social life. His con- 
versation was fascinating and attractive. He was full of 
wit, humor, and anecdote, and at the same time, original, 
suggestive, and instructive. There was in his character 
a singular mingling of mirthfulness and melancholy. 
While his sense of the ludicrous was keen, and his fun 
and mirth were exuberant, and sometimes almost irre- 
pressible, his conversation sparkling with jest, story, and 
anecdote, and in droll description, he would pass sud- 
denly to another mood, and become sad and pathetic ; 
a melancholy expression of his homely face would show 
that he was "a man of sorrows and acquainted with 
grief." 



BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 63 

HIS STORIES. 

The newspapers in America have always been full 
of Lincoln's stories and anecdotes, some true and many 
fabulous. 

He always had a story ready, and, if not, he could 
improvise one, just fitted for the occasion. The follow- 
ing may, I think, be said to have been adapted: 

An Atlantic port, in one of the British provinces, 
was, during the war, a great resort and refuge for 
blockade-runners, and a large contraband trade was said 
to have been carried on from chat port with the Con- 
federates. Late in the summer of 1864, while the 
election of President was pending, Lincoln being a can- 
didate, the Governor-General of that province, with some 
of the principal officers, visited Washington, and called 
to pay their respects to the Executive. Mr. Lincoln had 
been very much annoyed by the failure of these officials 
to enforce very strictly the rules of neutrality, but he 
treated his guests with great courtesy. After a pleasant 
interview, the Governor, alluding to the approaching 
presidential election, said, jokingly, but with a grain of 
sarcasm, " I understand, Mr. President, everybody votes 
in this country. If we remain until November, can we 
vote ?" 

" You remind me," replied the President, "of a coun- 
tryman of yours, a green emigrant from Ireland. Pat 
arrived in New York on election day, and was, perhaps, 
as eager as Your Excellency, to vote, and to vote early 
and late and often. So, upon his landing at Castle Gar- 
den, he hastened to the nearest voting place, and, as he 



64 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

approached, the judge who received the ballots inquired, 
' Who do you want to vote for ? on which side are you ?' 
Poor Pat was embarrassed ; he did not know who were 
the candidates. He stopped, scratched his head, then, 
with the readiness of his countrymen, he said : 

" ' I am foment the Government, anyhow. Tell me, 
if your honor plases, which is the rebellion side, and 
I'll tell you how I want to vote. In Ould Ireland, I was 
always on the rebellion side, and, by Saint Patrick, I'll 
stick to that same in America.' 

"Your Excellency," said Mr. Lincoln, "would, I 
should think, not be at all at a loss on which side to vote." 

THE BOOKS HE READ. 

The two books he read most were the Bible and 
Shakespeare. With them he was familiar, reading and 
quoting from them constantly. Next to Shakespeare, 
among the poets, was Burns, with whom he had a hearty 
sympathy, and upon whose poetry he wrote a lecture. 
He was extremely fond of ballads, and of simple, sad and 
plaintive music. 

I called one day at the White House, to introduce 
two officers of the Union army, both Swedes. Immedi- 
ately he began and repeated from memory, to the delight 
of his visitors, a long ballad, descriptive of Norwegian 
scenery, a Norse legend, and the adventures of an old 
Vikinof amongr the fiords of the North. 

He said he had read the poem in a newspaper, and 
the visit of these Swedes recalled it to his memory. 

On the last Sunday of his life, as he was sailing up 



BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 65 

the Potomac, returning to Washington from his visit to 
Richmond, he read aloud many extracts from Mac- 
beth, and, among others, the following, and with a tone 
and accent so impressive that, after his death, it was 
vividly recalled by those who heard him : 

" Duncan is in his grave ; 
After life's fitful fever, he sleeps well ; 
Treason has done his worst : nor steel, nor poison, 
Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing. 
Can touch him further '" 

After his assassination, those friends could not fail to 
recall this passage from the same play : 

" This Duncan 
Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been 
So clear in his great office, that his virtues 
Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against 
The deep damnation of his taking-off." 

HIS RELIGION, 

It Is Strange that any reader of Lincoln's speeches, 
and writings should have had the hardihood to charge 
him with infidelity, but the charge, having been repeat- 
edly made, I reply, in the light of facts accessible to all,, 
that no more reverent Christian (not excepting Washing- 
ton) ever filled the chair of President. Declarations of 
his trust in God, his faith in the efficacy of prayer, per- 
vade his speeches and writings. From the time he left 
Springfield, to his death, he not only himself continuedly 
prayedfor Divine assistance, but never failed to ask the 
prayers of others for himself and his country. 

His reply to the negroes of Baltimore, who, in 1864,. 



66 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

presented him with a beautiful Bible, as an expression of 
their love and gratitude, ought to have silenced all who 
have made such charges. After thanking them, he said, 
" This great book is the best gift God has given to man. 
All the good from the Saviour of the world is communi- 
cated throuMi this book." 

When a member of Congress, knowing his religious 
character, asked him " Why he did not join some church?" 
Mr. Lincoln replied, " Because I found difficulty, with- 
out mental reservation, in giving my assent to their long 
and complicated confessions of faith. When any church 
will inscribe over its altar the Saviour's condensed state- 
ment of law and gospel, ' Thou shalt love the Lord thy 
God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy 
mind, and thy neighbor as thyself,' that church will I join 
with all my heart." 

WHAT HE ACCOMPLISHED. 

Let us try to sum up in part what he accomplished. 

When he assumed the duties of the Executive, he 
■found an empty treasury, the National credit gone, the 
little nucleus of an army and navy scattered and dis- 
armed, the officers, who had not deserted to the rebels, 
strangers ; the party which elected him in a minority (he 
having been elected only because his opponents were 
divided between Douglas, Breckenridge, and Everett), 
the old Democratic party, which had ruled most of the 
time for half a century, hostile, and even that part of it in 
the North, from long association, in sympathy with the 
-insurgents ; his own party made up of discordant ele- 



BY ISAAC JV. ARNOLD. 6j 

ments, and neither he nor his party had acquired prestige 
and the confidence of the people. 

It is the exact truth to say that when he entered the 
While House he was the object of personal prejudice to a 
majority of the American people, and of contempt to a 
powerful minority. He entered upon his task of restor- 
ing the integrity of a broken Union, without sympathy 
from any of the great powers of Western Europe. Those 
which were not hostile manifested a cold neutrality, exhib- 
iting toward him and his government no cordial good-will, 
nor extending any moral aid. Yet, in spite of all, he 
crushed the most stupendous rebellion, supported by 
armies more vast, by resources greater, and an organiza- 
tion more perfect, than ever before undertook the dis- 
memberment of a nation. He united and held together, 
against contending factions, his own party, and strength- 
ened it by securing the confidence and winning the sup- 
port of the best part of all parties. He composed the 
quarrels of rival generals ; and, at length, won the respect 
and confidence and sympathy of all nations and peoples. 
He was re-elected, almost by acclamation, and, after a 
series of brilliant victories, he annihilated all armed 
opposition. He led the people, step by step, to Emanci- 
pation, and saw his work crowned by an amendment of 
the Constitution, eradicating and prohibiting slavery for- 
ever, throughout the republic. 

Such is a brief and imperfect summary of his achieve- 
ments during the last five years of his life. And this 
good man, when the hour of victory came, made it not the 
hour of vengeance, but of forgiveness and reconciliation. 
These five years of incessant labor and fearful responsi- 



68 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

bility told even upon his strength and vigor. He left 
Illinois, for the Capital, with a frame of iron and nerves 
of steel. His old friends, who had known him as a man : 
who did not know what illness was ; who had seen him 
on the prairies before the Illinois courts, full of life, ge- 
nial, and sparkling with fun ; now saw the wrinkles on his 
forehead deepened into furrows — the laugh of the old days 
lost its heartiness ; anxiety, responsibility, care, and hard 
work wore upon him, and his nerves of steel at times 
became irritable. He had had no respite, had taken no 
holidays. When others fled away from the dust and heat 
of the Capital, he stayed. He would not leave the helm 
until all danger was past, and the good ship of state had 
made her port. 

I will not dwell upon the unutterable sorrow of the 
American people, at his shocking death. But I desire to 
express here, in this great city of this grand empire, the 
sensibility with which the people of the United States 
received, at his death, the sympathy of the English-speak- 
ing race. 

That sympathy was most eloquently expressed by all. 
It came from Windsor Castle to the White House ; from 
England's widowed queen to the stricken and distracted 
widow at Washington. From Parliament to Congress, 
from the people of all this magnificent empire, as it 
stretches round the world, from England to India, from 
Canada to Australia, came words of deep feeling, and 
they were received by the American people, in their sore 
bereavement, as the expression of a kindred race. 

I cannot forbear referring in particular to the words 
spoken in Parliament on that occasion, by Lords Russell 



BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 69 

and Derby, and, especially, by that great and picturesque 
leader, so lately passed away. Lord Beaconsfield. After 
a discriminating eulogy upon the late President, and the 
expression of profound sympathy, he said : 

" Nor is it possible for the people of England, at such 
a moment, to forget that he sprang from the same father- 
land and spake the same mother-tongue." 

God grant that, in all the unknown future, nothing 
may ever disturb the friendly feeling and respect which 
each nation entertains for the other. May there never be 
another quarrel in the family. 



c^<u^c^ JC^/rrvxc^cxJ 



Chicago, 1882. 



70 NOTE FROM RIGHT HOJSl. JOHN BRIGHT. 



NOTE FROM THE RIGHT HON. JOHN 

BRIGHT. 



No. 132 Piccadilly, London, 
June 2%th, '81. 
Dear Sir : 

I have read with much pleasure your interesting paper 
on President Lincoln. I wish all men could read it, for 
the life of your great President affords much that tends 
to advance all that is good and noble among men. I 
thank you for sending me the report of your paper. 

I am, very sincerely yours, 

John Bright. 
Hon. Isaac N. Arnold, 



LETTER FROM MRS. A. C. BOTTA. 71 



LETTER FROM MRS. ANNE C. BOTTA. 



Buckingham Palace Hotel, 
J2ine 22d, 1 88 1. 
My Dear Mr, Arnold : 

An hour ago I opened the pamphlet you gave me 
yesterday, intending to glance at the contents and lay it 
aside to read when I reached home, but I found myself 
unable to lay it down until I had carefully read every 
word from first to last. It is certainly the most clear, 
exhaustive, and eloquent tribute to Mr. Lincoln that I 
have ever seen. But the pleasure it has given me is quite 
equaled by the pride I feel in knowing that it was 
listened to by the London Historical Society, to whom it 
must have been as novel as interestinsc. As a grood 
American, I thank you cordially for thus giving to the 
English people so noble a picture of our great President, 
while, at the same time, you presented to them in person 
his able friend and coadjutor. 

Very truly yours, 

Anne C. Botta. 



72 TIl'O FAGLIARDIRRrS ADDRESS. 



ADDRESS OF TITO PAGLIARDIRRI, ESQ., ; 

Council of the Royal Historical Society, London, 

England. 

Mr. Chairman, Ladies, and Gentlemen : — Seldom 
have I listened to a paper that has so deeply interested 
me. It has given us a living portrait of one of the most 
remarkable individualities of recent times — a portrait, too, 
traced by the hand of one who, having himself taken a 
prominent part in the great national struggle which put 
an end to slavery, had constant opportunities of seeing 
and studying in every phase of his life the eminent man 
he has so graphically portrayed. And though it has been 
said that familiarity breeds contempt, and that there is 
no hero for his valet, yet men of the Garibaldi and Lin- 
coln type, whose influence on their country and mankind 
at large is chiefly due to 7noral force, can only gain by a 
closer view of them in their prosaic every-day life. 
When we see the gentler feelings of the human heart 
combined in a prominent man with a rigid sense of duty 
and the intellectual power and perseverance necessary to 
fulfill that duty, we not only admire that man but revere 
and love him. Hence Abraham Lincoln, the preserver, 
as Washington was the founder of the great Union, 
always, I must confess, stood higher in my estimation 
and love than all the Alexanders, Caesars, and Napoleons 



TITO PAGLIARDIRRI'S ADDRESS. 73 

who have reddened the pages of history with their bril- 
liant exploits. 

Before his time, I was often taunted by my French 
republican friends for showing but scant enthusiasm for 
" La grande Republique Americaine." In answer, I 
pointed to the huge black spot which, though it only 
covered half, yet extended its moral taint to the whole of 
the otherwise crlorious Union. That could not be the 
model land of Liberty where millions of our fellow-creat- 
ures were born to slavery, to be bought and sold like 
swine*. 

But when the great deliverer arose, humble though 
his origin, as is that of most deliverers, my sentiments 
towards America changed. I hailed him with enthusiasm 
and stood almost alone in my circle, composed chiefly of 
readers of the conservative and semi-conservative press ; 
for, to their shame and ultimate discomfiture, the leading 
papers almost all took the wrong side, prophesying con- 
tinuous disasters to the anti-slavery party and a consequent 
disruption of the Union. Their grand but specious ar- 
gument, which misled many honest minds, ignorant of 
the history of the several States, was that the South had 
as much right to fight for their liberty as the United 
States themselves had to fight for their independence 
against England. Liberty, indeed ! The liberty to per- 
petuate the curse of slavery ! 

But Americans must not judge of British sentiments 
by the conservative press, which only represents a portion 
of the public, but which, unfortunately, was that which 
most easily found its way across the Atlantic. The real 
Jicart of Great Britain was from the beginning with the 



74 TITO PAGLIARDIRRI'S ADDRESS. 

North. Indeed, Lincoln's warmest sympathizers were 
those who suffered most from the direful American civil 
contest — the cotton-spinners and the whole body of the 
working classes. And as nothing succeeds like success, I 
am bound to add that in the process of time the undaunted 
determination of the Northern States, under a series of 
alarming defeats, with their best-trained generals and offi- 
cers, and their chief arsenals, on the side of the slave- 
holders, gradually gained for them and for their great 
inspirer, Abraham Lincoln, the respect and admiration of 
all parties — and this admiration and this respect were 
vastly increased when, in the hour of victory, all cries for 
vengeance were hushed, and the hand of brotherhood 
was held out to the defeated party by the noble-hearted 
President, with the full consent of his victorious country- 
men. 

And now that what was deemed impossible is an ac- 
complished fact, viz. : the abomination of slavery erad- 
icated forever from the great American Republic, and 
peace and prosperity restored throughout the land, I 
trust that, in Mr. Arnold's own words, "nothing may 
ever disturb the friendly feeling and respect which each 
of the great Anglo-Saxon nations entertains for the 
other." 

Already have they given a striking proof of their 
advanced civilization and friendly feelings, and a noble 
example to all other civilized nations, in the peaceful set- 
tlement of the burning Alabama question, which, but one 
generation ago would most certainly have led to an obsti- 
nate war, ruinous to both countries. That the decision 
of the neutral body of arbitrators was impartial and toler- 



TITO PAGLlARDIRRrS ADDRESS, 75 

ably just was proved by its giving at the time entire satis- 
faction to neither party, the whole question being, how- 
ever, soon after completely dropped, leaving no angry feel- 
ings behind, as would have done a war, however success- 
ful in the end. May God grant that any future differ- 
ences between these two great nations having a common 
origin, a common language, a common literature, and so 
many institutions in common, be settled in the same just 
friendly, and rational manner. No fratricidal war must 
or can ever arise between them. All their future battles 
must be fought on the peaceful fields of science, literature/ 
and the industrial arts. Victories on these fields will 
benefit both, and the whole human race into the bargain. 

I will now conclude these hasty remarks by proposing 
a hearty vote of thanks to the Hon. Isaac N. Arnold for 
his very valuable and interesting paper. 

Which was unanimously adopted. 



76 FIRST POLITICAL ADDRESS, 



LINCOLN'S FIRST POLITICAL SPEECH 

When a Candidate for the Illinois Legislature 

IN 1832. 

** Gentlemen, Fellow-Citizens : I presume you know 
who I am. I am humble Abraham Lincoln. I have been 
solicited by many friends to become a candidate for the 
Legislature. My politics can be briefly stated. I am in 
favor of the internal improvement system, and a high 
protective tariff. These are my sentiments and political 
principles. If elected, I shall be thankful ; if not, it will 
be all the same." 



R. jB, ANDERSON. 



77 



THE ripest and fairest fruit that has yet fallen fron> 
our American tree of civilization is Abraham Lin- 
coln. His private character was stainless, his public life 
pure, wise, courageous, statesmanlike. In both, he will 
shine the brighter as years and centuries roll on. Among 
the many orbs that illuminate the pages of our history, 
he is the sun himself, whose light was not darkened by 
the most cloudy and stormy days of our civil war. When 
he had saved our country, and wiped out the black stain 
that marred the beauty of so many of our fair states, 
envy could find no more shining mark for its poisoned 
shafts, and like the good Balder in our ancient mythology, 
and like Christ and Socrates of old, he was made to 
die, that truth and righteousness might live. I can name 
no name of any age or country that in private and public 
life outshines that of the great Abraham Lincoln. His 
memory will be cherished by the latest generations of 
this earth. - ----- 




Madison, 1880. 



78 EXTRACT FROM SPEECH, 



EXTRACT FROM A SPEECH DELIVERED 
DECEMBER, 1839. 

Of the slave power he said, Broken by it ? I, too, may 
be asked to bow to it, I never will ! The probability that 
we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from 
the support of a cause which I deem to be just. It shall 
not deter me. If I ever feel the soul within me elevate 
and expand to dimensions not wholly unworthy of its 
almighty Architect, it is when I contemplate the cause of 
my country, deserted by all the world beside, and I stand- 
ing up boldly and alone, and hurling defiance at her vic- 
torious oppressors. Here, without contemplating conse- 
quences, before high Heaven, and in the face of the world, 
I swear eternal fidelity to the just cause, as I deem it, of 
the land of my life, my liberty, and my love ! 

. And who that thinks with me, will not adopt the oath 
that I take ? Let none falter who thinks he is right, and 
we may succeed. But if, after all, we shall fall, be it so. 
We shall have the proud consolation of saying to our 
conscience, and to the departed shade of our country's 
freedom, that the course approved by our judgments and 
adored by our hearts, in disaster, in chains, in torture, and 
in death. We never faltered in defending. 



ye. B. A YRES. 



79 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN was a man of noble charac- 
ter, — of lofty aims. He brought to the duties of 
the presidential office the highest qualities of manhood, 
a wide knowledge of humanity, and a superb courage to 
carry out his convictions. It was a most fortunate cir- 
cumstance that he was our President durinor those mO' 
mentous years in our country's history. 




U. S. Army, 
1882. 



8o RESOLUTIONS UPON SLAVERY. 



RESOLUTIONS UPON DOMESTIC SLAVERY 
IN THE ILLINOIS LEGISLATURE. 

March 3, 1837. 

The following protest was presented to the House, 
which was read and ordered to be spread on the journals, 
to wit : 

" Resolutions upon the subject of domestic slavery 
having passed both branches of the General Assembly, 
at its present session, the undersigned hereby protest 
against the passage of the same. 

" They believe that the institution of slavery is 
founded on both injustice and bad policy ; but that the 
promulgation of abolition doctrines tends rather to in- 
crease than abate its evils. 

"They believe that the Congress of the United 
States has no power, under the Constitution, to inter- 
fere with the institution of slavery in the different States. 

"They believe that the Congress of the United 
States has the power, under the Constitution, to abolish 
slavery in the District of Columbia ; but that the power 
ought not to be exercised unless at the request of the 
people of said District. The difference between these 
opinions and those contained in the said resolutions, is 
their reason for entering this protest. 
(Signed) 

" Dan. Stone, 
" A. Lincoln, | 

"Representatives from the County of Sangamon." 



\ 



LYMAN ABBOTT. 81 



TO comprehend the current of history sympathetically, 
to appreciate the spirit of the age, prophetically, to 
know what God, by his providence, is working out in the 
epoch and the community, and so to work with him as to 
guide the current and embody in noble deeds the spirit of 
the age in working out the divine problem, — this is true 
greatness. The man who sets his powers, however 
gigantic, to stemming the current and thwarting the di- 
vine purposes, is not truly great. 

Abraham Lincoln was made the Chief Executive of a 
nation whose Constitution was unlike that of any other 
nation on the face of the globe. We assume that, ordi- 
narily, public sentiment will change so gradually that the 
nation can always secure a true representative of its pur- 
pose in the presidential chair by an election every four 
years. Mr. Lincoln held the presidential office at a time 
when public sentiment was revolutionized in less than 
four years. When he was called to the presidency, only 
a very insignificant minority in the nation was willing 
that slavery should be interfered with, and only a bare 
majority of the loyal North were prepared even to en- 
force the laws in rebellious States. Before his term of 
office had expired, a great body of the North were ready, 
not only to put down rebellion by force of arms, but in 
doing this to enfranchise the negro and to put arms into 
his hands. It was the peculiar genius of Abraham Lin- 
coln, that he was able, by his sympathetic insight, to per- 
ceive the change in public sentiment without waiting for 

6 



82 LYMAN ABBOTT. 

it to be formulated in any legislative action ; to keep 
pace with it, to lead and direct it, to quicken laggard 
spirits, to hold in the too ardent, too impetuous, and too 
hasty ones, and thus, when he signed the emancipation 
proclamation, to make his signature, not the act of an 
individual man, the edict of a military imperator, but 
the representative act of a great nation. He was the 
greatest President in American History, because in a 
time of revolution he comprehended the spirit of Ameri- 
can institutions, grasped the purposes of the American 
people, and embodied them in an act of justice and hu- 
manity which was in the highest sense the act of the 
American Republic. 



Xy 



"yyiayn. 



CORNWALL-ON-HUDSON, 

i88i. 



CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. S3 



PERSONALLY I never saw President Lincoln more 
than twice in my life, and then for a very few min- 
utes. He then frankly told me that my mission to Great 
Britain had not been altogether his selection, but I believe 
he became well satisfied afterwards. So, on the other 
hand, I became from a very lukewarm admirer of his, one 
of the most appreciative of his high qualities, and mourn- 
ers of his great loss. I shall never forget the moment 
when, in London, the tidings of this loss were brought to 
me. It seemed as if we were all afloat in the midst of a 
boundless ocean. 

Boston, 1880. 



84 AN ADDRESS, 



AN ADDRESS 

DELIVERED BEFORE THE SPRINGFIELD WASHINGTONIAN 
TEMPERANCE SOCIETY, AT THE SECOND PRESBYTER- 
IAN CHURCH, ON THE 2 2D DAY OF FEBRUARY, 
1842, BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN, ESQ. 

Although the Temperance Cause has been in progress 
for nearly twenty years, It is apparent to all that it is just 
now beine crowned with a deo-ree of success, hitherto 
unparalleled. 

The list of its friends is daily swelled by the additions 
of fifties, of hundreds, and of thousands. The cause 
itself seems suddenly transformed from a cold abstract 
theory, to a living, breathing, active and powerful chief- 
tain, going forth "conquering and to conquer." The 
citadels of his great adversary are daily being stormed 
and dismantled ; his temples and his altars, where the 
rites of his idolatrous worship have long been performed, 
and where human sacrifices have lonsf been wont to be 
made, are daily desecrated and deserted. The trump of 
the conqueror's fame is sounding from hill to hill, from 
sea to sea, and from land to land, and calling millions to 
his standard at a blast. 

For this new and splendid success we heartily rejoice. 
That that success is so much greater now, than hereto- 
fore, is doubtless owing to rational causes ; and if we 
would have it continue, we shall do well to inquire what 
those causes are. 



I 



AN ADDRESS. 85 

The warfare heretofore wasfed as^ainst the demon 
intemperance, has, somehow or other, been erroneous. 
Either the champions engaged, or the tactics they 
adopted, have not been the most proper. These cham- 
pions, for the most part, have been preachers, lawyers and 
hired agents ; between these and the mass of mankind, 
there is a want of approachability, if the term be admis- 
sible, partial at least, fatal to their success. They are 
supposed to have no sympathy of feeling or interest 
with those very persons whom it is their object to con- 
vince and persuade. 

And again, it is so easy and so common to ascribe 
motives to men of these classes, other than those they 
profess to act upon. The preacher, it is said, advocates 
temperance because he is a fanatic, and desires a union 
of the church and state ; the lawyer from his pride, and 
vanity of hearing himself speak ; and the hired agent 
for his salary. 

But when one who has lone been known as a victim 
of intemperance bursts the fetters that have bound him, 
and appears before his neighbors "clothed and in his right 
mind," a redeemed specimen of long-lost humanity, and 
stands up with tears of joy trembling in his eyes, to 
tell of the miseries once endured, now to be endured no 
more forever, of his once naked and starvinsf children, 
now clad and fed comfortably, of a wife, long weighed 
down with woe, weeping, and a broken heart, now 
restored to health, happiness and a renewed affection, and 
how easily it is all done, once it is resolved to be done; 
how simple his language ; there is a logic and an eloquence 
in it that few with human feelings can resist. They can- 



86 AN ADDRESS. 

not say that he desires a union of church and state, for v 
he is not a church-member ; they cannot say he is vain of \ 
hearing himself speak, for his wliole demeanor shows he 
would gladly avoid speaking at all ; they cannot say he 
speaks for pay, for he receives none, and asks for none. 
Nor can his sincerity in any way be doubted, or his sym- 
pathy for those he would persuade to imitate his example, 
be denied. 

In my judgment it is to the battles of this new class i 
of champions that our late success is greatly, perhaps 
chiefly, owing. But had the old-school champions them- 
selves been of the most wise selecting ? Was their 
system of tactics the most judicious ? It seems to me it 
was not. Too much denunciation asfainst clram-sellers 
and dram-drinkers was indulged in. This, I think, was 
both impolitic and unjust. It was impolitic, because it is 
not much in the nature of man to be driven to anything ; 
still less to be driven about that which is exclusively 
his own business ; and least of all, where such driving is to 
be submitted to at the expense of pecuniary interest, or 
burning appetite. When the dram-seller and drinker 
were incessantly told, not in the accents of entreaty and 
persuasion, diffidently addressed by erring man to an 
erring brother, but in the thundering tones of anathema 
and denunciation, with which the lordly judge often 
groups together all the crimes of the felon's life, and 
thrusts them in his face just ere he passes sentence of 
death upon him, that they were the authors of all the 
vice and misery and crime in the land ; that they were the 
manufacturers and material of all the thieves and robbers 
and murderers that infest the earth ; that their houses 



AN ADDRESS. 87 

were the work-shops of the devil, and that their persons 
should be shunned by all the good and virtuous, as moral 
pestilences, — I say, when they were told all this, and in 
this way, it is not wonderful that they were slow, very 
slow, to acknowledge the truth of such denunciations, 
and to join the ranks of their denouncers, in a hue and 
cry against themselves. 

To have expected them to do otherwise than they did 
— to have expected them not to meet denunciation with 
denunciation, crimination with crimination, and anathema 
with anathema, — was to expect a reversal of human 
nature, which is God's decree, and can never be reversed. 

When the conduct of men is designed to be influ- 
enced, persuasion, kind, unassuming persuasion, should 
ever be adopted. It is an old and a true maxim, " that 
a drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall." 
So with men. If you would win a man to your cause, first 
convince him that you are his sincere friend. Therein is 
a drop of honey that catches his heart ; which, say what 
he will, is the great high road to his reason, and which, 
when once gained, you will find but little trouble in con- 
vincing his judgment of the justice of your cause, if, 
indeed, that cause really be a just one. On the contrary, 
assume to dictate to his judgment, or to command his 
action, or to mark him as one to be shunned and despised, 
and he will retreat within himself, close all the avenues 
to his head and his heart, and though your cause be naked 
truth itself, transformed to the heaviest lance, harder 
than steel, and sharper than steel can be made, and 
though you throw it with more than herculean force and 
precision, you shall be no more able to pierce him, than 



88 AN ADDRESS. 

to penetrate the hard shell of a tortoise with a rye-straw. 
Such is man, and so must he be understood by those who 
would lead him, even to his own best interests. 

On this point, the Washingtonians greatly excel the 
temperance advocates of former times. Those whom 
they desire to convince and persuade are their old friends 
and companions. They know they are not demons, nor 
even the worst of men ; they know that generally they 
are kind, generous and charitable, even beyond the 
example of their more staid and sober neighbors. They 
are practical philanthropists ; and they glow with a gen- 
erous and brotherly zeal, that mere theorizers are incap- 
able of feeling. Benevolence and charity possess their 
hearts entirely ; and out of the abundance of their hearts 
their tongues give utterance, " Love through all their 
actions run, and all their words are mild :" in this spirit 
they speak and act, and in the same they are heard and 
regarded. And when such is the temper of the advocate, 
and such of the audience, no good cause can be unsuc- 
cessful. But I have said that denunciations against dram- 
sellers and dram-drinkers are unjust, as well as impolitic. 
Let us see. 

I have not inquired at what period of time the use of 
intoxicating liquors commenced ; nor is it important to 
know. It is sufficient that to all of us who now inhabit 
the world, the practice of drinking them is just as old as 
the world itself — that is, we have seen the one, just as long 
as we have seen the other. When all such of us as have 
now reached the years of maturity, first opened our eyes 
upon the stage of existence, we found intoxicating liquors 
recognized by everybody, used by everybody, repudiated 



AN ADDRESS. 89 

by nobody. It commonly entered into the first draught 
of the infant, and the last draught of the dying man. 
From the sideboard of the parson, down to the ragged 
pocket of the houseless loafer, it was constantly found. 
Physicians prescribed it, in this, that and the other 
disease ; Government provided it for soldiers and sailors ; 
and to have a rolling or raising, a husking or " hoe-down " 
anywhere about without it, was positively tmstcfferable. 
So too, it was everywhere a respectable article of manu- 
facture and of merchandise. The making of it was 
regarded as an honorable livelihood, and he could make 
most, was the most enterprising and respectable. Large 
and small manufactories of it were everywhere erected, 
in which all the earthly goods of their owners were in- 
vested. Waofons drew it from town to town ; boats bore 
it from clime to clime, and the winds wafted it from 
nation to nation ; and merchants bought and sold it, by 
wholesale and retail, with precisely the same feelings on 
the part of the seller, buyer and by-stander as are felt at 
the selling and buying of plows, beef, bacon, or any other 
of the real necessaries of life. Universal public opinion 
not only tolerated, but recognized and adopted its use. 

It is true, that even then it was known and acknowl- 
edged that many were greatly injured by it ; but none 
seemed to think the injury arose from the use of a bad 
thing, but from the abuse of a very good thing. The 
victims of it were to be pitied and compassionated, just 
as are the heirs of consumption, and other hereditary 
diseases. Their failing was treated as a misfortune, and 
not as a crime, or even as a disgrace. 

If then, what I have been saying is true, is it wonder- 



90 AN ADDRESS. 

ful, that some should think and act now, as all thought 
and acted twenty years ago, and is it just to assail, con- 
demn, or despise them for doing so ? The universal 
sense of mankind, on any subject, is an argument, or at 
least an influence, not easily overcome. The success of 
the argument in favor of the existence of an over-ruling 
Providence, mainly depends upon that sense ; and men 
ought not, in justice, to be denounced for yielding to it 
in any case, or giving it up slowly, especially when they 
are backed by interest, fixed habits, or burning appetites. 
Another error, as it seems to me, into which the old 
reformers fell, was the position that all habitual drunk- 
ards were utterly incorrigible, and therefore, must be 
turned adrift, and damned without remedy, in order that 
the grace of temperance might abound, to the temperate 
then, and to all mankind some hundreds of years there- 
after. There is in this something so repugnant to 
humanity, so uncharitable, so cold-blooded and feeling- 
less, that it never did, nor never can enlist the enthusiasm 
of a popular cause. We could not love the man who 
taught it — we could not hear him with patience. The 
heart could not throw open its portals to it, the generous 
man could not adopt it, it could not mix with his blood. 
It looked so fiendishly selfish, so like throwing fathers 
and brothers overboard, to lighten the boat for our se- 
curity — that the noble-minded shrank from the manifest 
meanness of the thing. And besides this, the benefits of 
a reformation to be effected by such a system, were too 
remote in point of time, to warmly engage many in its 
behalf. Few can be induced to labor exclusively for pos- 
terity ; and none will do it enthusiastically. Posterity 



AN ADDRESS. 91 

has done nothing for us ; and theorize on It as we may, 
practically we shall do very little for It unless we are made 
to think, we are, at the same time, doing something for 
ourselves. 

What an Ignorance of human nature does It exhibit, 
to ask or expect a whole community to rise up and labor 
for the temporal happiness of others, after themselves 
shall be consigned to the dust, a majority of which com- 
munity take no pains whatever to secure their own 
eternal welfare at no greater distant day. Great distance 
In either time or space has wonderful power to lull and 
render quiescent the human mind. Pleasures to be en- 
joyed, or pains to be endured, after we shall be dead and 
gone, are but little regarded, even In our own cases, and 
much less In the cases of others. 

Still, in addition to this, there is somethingso ludicrous, 
In promises of good, or threats of evil, a great way off, 
as to render the whole subject with which they are con- 
nected, easily turned into ridicule. " Better lay down 
that spade you're stealing, Paddy — If you don't, you'll 
pay for It at the day of judgment." " Be the powers, If 
ye'll credit me so long Fll take another jist." 

By the Washlngtonians this system of consigning the 
habitual drunkard to hopeless ruin Is repudiated. They 
adopt a mote enlarged philanthropy, they go for present 
as well as fut"ure good. They labor for all now living, 
as well as hereafter to live. They teach hope to all — de- 
spair to none. As applying to their cause, they deny 
the doctrine of unpardonable sin ; as In Christianity It is 
taught, so In this they teach — 



92 v^^'V ADDRESS. 

"While the lamp holds out to burn, 
The vilest sinner may return." 

And, what is a matter of the most profound congratula- 
tion, they, by experiment upon experiment, and example 
upon example, prove the maxim to be no less true in the 
one case than in the other. On every hand we behold 
those, who but yesterday were the chief of sinners, now 
the chief apostles of the cause. Drunken devils are cast 
out by ones, by sevens, by legions ; and their unfortunate 
victims, like the poor possessed, who was redeemed from 
his long and lonely wanderings in the tombs, are publish- 
ing to the ends of the earth how great things have been 
done for them. 

To these new champions, and this new system of tac- 
tics, our late success is mainly owing ; and to them we 
must mainly look for the final consummation. The ball 
is now rolling gloriously on, and none are so able as they 
to increase its speed, and its bulk — to add to its mo- 
mentum and its magnitude — even thoug^h unlearned in 
letters, for this task none are so well educated. To fit 
them for this work they have been taught in the true 
school. They have been in that gulf, from which they 
would teach others the means of escape. They have 
passed that prison wall, which others have long declared 
impassable ; and who that has not, shall dare to weigh 
opinions with them as to the mode of passing ? 

But if it be true, as I have insisted, that those who 
have suffered by intemperance personally, and have re- 
formed, are the most powerful and efficient instruments 
to push the reformation to ultimate success, it does not 
follow that those who have not suffered have no part left 



AN ADDRESS. 93 

them to perform. Whether or not the world would be 
vastly benefitted by a total and final banishment from it 
of all intoxicating drinks, seems to me not now an open 
question. Three-fourths of mankind confess the affirm- 
ative with their tongues ; and, I believe, all the rest 
acknowledge it in their hearts. 

Ought any, then, to refuse their aid in doing what 
the good of the whole demands? Shall he who cannot 
do much, be, for that reason, excused if he do nothing ? 
"But," says one, "what good can I do by signing the 
pledge? I never drink, even without signing." This 
question has already been asked and answered more than 
a million of times. Let it be answered once more. For 
the man to suddenly, or in any other way, to break off 
from the use of drams, who has indulged in them for a 
long course of years, and until his appetite for them has 
o^rown ten or a hundred fold stronger and more craving 
than any natural appetite can be, requires a most power- 
ful moral effort. In such an undertaking he needs every 
moral support and influence that can possibly be brought 
to his aid, and thrown around him. And not only so, 
but every moral prop should be taken from whatever 
argument might rise in his mind, to lure him to his back- 
sliding. When he casts his eyes around him, he should be 
able to see all that he respects, all that he admires, all 
that he loves, kindly and anxiously pointing him onward, 
and none beckoning him back to his former misesable 
" wallowinsf in the mire." 

But it is said by some, that men will think and act 
for themselves ; that none will disuse spirits or anything 
else because his neighbors do ; and that moral influence 



94 



AN ADDRESS. 



Is not that powerful engine contended for. Let us ex- 
amine this. Let me ask the man who could maintain 
this position most stiffly, what compensation he will 
accept to go to church some Sunday and sit during the 
sermon with his wife's bonnet upon his head? Not a 
trifle, I'll venture. And why not ? There would be 
nothing irreligious in it, nothing immoral, nothing un- 
comfortable — then why not ? Is it not because there 
would be something egregiously unfashionable in it? 
Then it is the influence of fashion ; and what is the 
influence of fashion but the influence that other people's 
actions have on our own actions — the strono" inclination 
each of us feels to do as we see all our neis^hbors do ? 
Nor is the influence of fashion confined to any particu- , 
lar thing or class of things. It is just as strong on one 
subject as another. Let us make it as unfashionable to 
withhold our names from the temperance pledge, as for 
husbands to wear their wives' bonnets to church, and 
instances will be just as rare in the one case as the other. 

"But," say some, "we are no drunkards, and we shall 
not acknowledge ourselves such, by joining a reformed 
drunkards' society, whatever our influence might be." 
Surely, no Christian will adhere to this objection. 

If they believe as they profess, that Omnipotence 
condescended to take on himself the form of sinful man, 
and, as such, to die an ignominious death for their sakes, 
surely, they will not refuse submission to the infinitely 
lesser condescension, for the temporal, and perhaps 
eternal salvation, of a large, erring, and unfortunate class 
of their fellow-creatures. Nor is the condescension very 
great. In my judgment such of us as have never fallen 



AN ADDRESS. 



95 



victims, have been spared more from the absence of appe- 
tite, than from any mental or moral superiority over those 
who have. Indeed, I believe, if we take habitual drunk- 
ards as a class, their heads and their hearts will bear an 
advantageous comparison with those of any other class. 
There seems ever to have been a proneness in the bril- 
liant and warm-blooded to fall into this vice — the demon 
of intemperance ever seems to have delighted in sucking 
the blood of genius and generosity. What one of us 
but can call to mind some relative, more promising in 
youth than all his fellows, who has fallen a sacrifice to 
his rapacity ? Pie ever seems to have gone forth like 
the Egyptian angel of death, commissioned to slay, if not 
the first, the fairest born of every family. Shall he now 
be arrested in his desolating career? In that arrest, all 
can give aid that will ; and who shall be excused that can, 
and will not ? Far around as human breath has ever 
blown, he keeps our fathers, our brothers, our sons, and our 
friends prostrate in the chains of moral death To all 
the living, everywhere, we cry, " Come, sound the moral 
trump, that these may rise and stand up an exceeding 
great army." — " Come from the four winds, O breath ! and 
breathe upon these slain, that they may live." If the 
relative grandeur of revolutions shall be estimated by the 
great amount of human misery they alleviate, and the 
small amount they inflict, then, indeed, will this be the 
grandest the world shall ever have seen, 

Of our political revolution of '76 we are all justly 
proud. It has given us a degree of political freedom far 
exceeding that of any other nations of the earth. In It the 
world has found a solution of the long mooted problem. 



I 



96 AN ADDRESS. 

as to the capability of man to govern himself. In it was 
the orerm which has vesfetated, and still is to orrow and 
expand into the universal liberty of mankind, 

But, with all these glorious results, past, present, and 
to come, it had its evils too. It breathed forth famine, 
swam in blood, and rode in fire ; and long, long after, the 
orphans' cry and the widows' wail continued to break the 
sad silence that ensued. These were the price, the inev- 
itable price, paid for the blessings it bought. 

Turn now to the temperance revolution. In it we 
shall find a stronger bondage broken, a viler slavery man- 
umitted, a greater tyrant deposed — in it, more of want 
supplied, more disease healed, more sorrow assuaged. 
By it, no orphans starving, no widows weeping. By it, 
none wounded in feeling, none injured in interest; even 
the dram-maker and dram-seller will have elided into 
other occupations so gradually as never to have felt the 
change, and will stand ready to join all others in the uni- 
versal song of gladness. And what a noble ally this, to 
the cause of political freedom, with such an aid, its 
march cannot fail to be on and on, till every son of earth 
shall drink in rich fruition the sorrow-quenching draughts 
of perfect liberty. Happy day, when, all appetites con- 
trolled, all poisons subdued, all matter subjected, mind, 
all-conquering mind, shall live and move, ihe monarch of 
the world ! Glorious consummation ! Hail, fall of fury ! 
Reign of reason, all hail ! 

And when the victory shall be complete — when there 
shall be neither a slave nor a drankard on the earth — 
how proud the title of that Land, which may truly claim 
to be the birth-place and the cradle of both those revo- 



AN ADDRESS. 



97 



lutlons that shall have ended in that victory. How 
nobly distinguished that people, who shall have planted, 
and nurtured to maturity, both the political and moral 
freedom of their species. 

This is the one hundred and tenth anniversary of the 
birthday of Washington — we are met to celebrate this 
day. Washington is the mightiest name of earth — long 
since mightiest in the cause of civil liberty, still mightiest 
in moral reformation. On that name a eulogy is ex- 
pected. It cannot be. To add brightness to the sun, or 
glory to the name of Washington is alike impossible. 
Let none attempt it. In solemn awe pronounce the 
name, and in its naked, deathless splendor leave it 
shining on. 



98 SPEECH DELIVERED AT PEORIA. 



SPEECH DELIVERED AT PEORIA, ILLINOIS, 
OCT. i6, 1854. 

Finally I insist that if there is any thing which it is 
the duty of the whole people to never intrust to any hands ■ 
but their own, that thing is the preservation and perpe- 
tuity of their own liberties and institutions. And if they 
shall think, as I do, that the extension of slavery endan- 
gers them, more than any or all other causes, how recreant 
to themselves if they submit the question, and with it the 
fate of their country, to a mere handful of men, bent only 
on temporary self-interest. If this question of slavery 
extension were an insignificant one — one having no power 
to do harm — it might be shufiled aside in this way ; but 
being as it is, the great Behemoth of danger, shall the 
strong gripe of the nation be loosened upon him, to 
intrust him to the hands of such feeble keepers ? I have 
done with this mighty argument of self-government. Go 
sacred thing ; Go in peace ! Much as I hate slavery, 1 
would consent to the extension of it rather than see the 
Union dissolved, just as I would consent to any great evil 
to avoid a greater one. But when I go to Union-saving 
I must believe, at least, that the means I employ have 
some adaptation to the end. 



T. S. ARTHUR. 99 



AS the years pass, and we look back upon the Hfe and 
work of Abraham Lincoln, during the time he was 
President of the United States, our admiration and rever- 
ence for the man increases. For unselfish devotion to the 
public welfare, purity of character, freedom from partisan- 
ship and personal ambition, and ability to comprehend and 
deal with the momentous questions at issue in our great 
struggle for national existence, he was first among the 
ablest statesmen and most loyal men of his time. 

New York, 1880. 



loo EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH. 



EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH, 

Delivered in Representative's Hall, Springfield, 
Illinois, June 26, 1857, 

In those days, our Declaration of Independence was 
held sacred by all, and thought to include all ; but now, 
to aid in making the bondage of the negro universal and 
eternal, it is assailed and sneered at, and construed, and 
hawked at, and torn, till, if its framers could rise from 
their graves, they could not at all recognize it. All the 
powers of earth seem rapidly combining against him. 
Mammon is after him, ambition follows, philosophy fol- 
lows, and the theology of the day is fast joining the cry. 
They have him in his prison-house ; they have searched 
his person, and left no prying instrument with him. 
One after another, they have closed the heavy iron doors 
upon him ; and now they have him, as it were, bolted in 
with a lock of a hundred keys, which can never be un- 
locked without the concurrence of every key ; the keys 
in the hands of a hundred different men, and they scat- 
tered to a hundred different and distant places ; and they 
stand musing as to what invention, in all the dominions 
of mind and matter, can be produced to make the impos- 
sibility of his escape more complete than it is. 



JOHN G. WHITTIER. 



lOl 



THE weary form, that rested not, 
Save in a martyr's grave ; 
The care-worn face that none forgot, 
Turned to the kneeling slave. 

We rest in peace, where his sad eyes 
Saw peril, strife and pain ; 

His was the awful sacrifice, 
And ours, the priceless gain. 




Danvers, 1 88a 



A. LINCOLN. 



Chicago, July 24, 1858. 
Hon. S. a. Douglas. 

My Dear Sir : Will it be agreeable to you 
to make an arrangement to divide time, and address 
the same audience, during the present canvass, etc.? 
Mr. Judd is authorized to receive your answer ; and 
if agreeable to you, to enter into the terms of such 
agreement, etc 

A. Lincoln. 



THEO. L. CUYLER. 103 



EXTRACT FROM MY SERMON. 

HE lived to see the rebellion in its last agonies ; he 
lived to enter Richmond amid the acclamations 
of the liberated slave ; he lived until Sumter's flag rose 
again, like a star of Bethlehem, in the southern sky ; and 
then, with the martyr's crown upon his brow, and with four 
million broken fetters in his hand, he went up to meet 
his God. In a moment his life crystallizes into the pure, 
white fame that belongs only to the martyr for truth and 
liberty ! Terrible as seems the method of his death to 
us, it was, after all, the most fitting and glorious. In 
God's sight, Lincoln was no more precious than the hum- 
blest drummer-boy, who has bled away his young life on 
the sod of Gettysburgh or Chattanooga. He had called 
on two hundred thousand heroes to lay down their lives 
for their country ; and now he, too, has gone to make 
his erave beside them. 



&' 



"So sleep the brave, who sink to rest, 
By all their country's wishes blest." 

When that grave, on yonder western prairie, shall 
finally yield up its dead, glorious will be his resurrection ! 
Methinks that I behold the spirit of the great Liberator, 
in that judgment scene, before the assembled hosts of 
heaven. Around him are the tens of thousands from 
whom he struck the oppressor's chain. Methinks I hear 
their grateful voices exclaim, " We were an hungered, and 



I04 



THEO. L. CUYLER. 



thou gavest us the bread of truth ; we were thirsty for 
liberty, and thou gavest us drink ; we were strangers, and 
thou didst take us in ; we were sick with two centuries of 
sorrow, and thou didst visit us ; we were in the prison- 
house of bondage, and thou earnest unto us." And the 
King shall say unto him: "In as much as thou done it 
unto one of the least of these my brethren, thou hast 
done it unto me. Well done, good and faithful servant ; 
enter into the joy of the Lord." 




Brooklyn, 1882. 



H. S. BENNETT, 105 



I HAVE been working for thirteen years in Fisk Uni- 
versity, an institution which is devoted to the eleva- 
tion of the colored race in the United States. And I am 
more and more convinced, from year to year, that no one 
can fully comprehend the magnitude and grandeur of the 
work achieved by Abraham Lincoln, until he has learned 
to look upon him as the colored people regard him. To 
the white Northerner he is preserver of the Union and 
the martyred President, to the colored people he is their 
deliverer, their savior. The name of Abraham Lincoln 
is enshrined forever as sacred in the hearts of a grateful 
people, whom he has redeemed. 




Fisk University, 
I880. 



io6 EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH. 



EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH, 

AT SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, JUNE 1 7, 1 858. 

"A house divided against itself cannot stand." I 
believe this government cannot endure permanently, 
half slave, and half free. I do not expect the Union to 
be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do 
expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one 
thing, or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery 
will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where 
the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the 
course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push 
it forward till it shall become alike lawful in all the states, 
old as well as new, North as well as South. 

I have always hated slavery, I think, as much as any 
abolitionist. 

Our cause, then, must be intrusted to, and conducted 
by, its own doubted friends — those whose hands are free, 
whose hearts are in the work, — who do care for the result. 
Two years ago, the Republicans of the nation mustered 
over thirteen hundred thousand strong. We did this 
under the single impulse of resistance to a common 
danger, with every external circumstance against us. Of 
strange, discordant, and even hostile elements, we gath- 
ered from the four winds, and formed and fought the bat- 
tie through, under the constant hot fire of a disciplined, 
proud, and pampered enemy. Did we brave all, then, to 



EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH. 107 

falter now, — now, when that same enemy is wavering, 
dissevered, and belligerent ? The result is not doubtful. 
We shall not fail, — if we stand firm, we shall not fail. 
Wise counsels may accelerate, or mistakes delay it, but 
sooner or later, the victory is sure to come. 



io8 EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH. 



EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH 

A.T CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, JULY lO, 1 858. 

Now, it happens that we meet together once every year, 
sometimes about the 4th of July, for some reasons or other. 

These 4th of July gatherings I suppose have their 
uses. If you will indulge me, I will state what I suppose 
to be some of them. We are now a mighty nation ; we 
are thirty, or about one-fifteenth part of the dry land of 
the whole earth. We run our memory back over the 
pages of history for about eighty-two years, and we con- 
sider that we were then a very small people in point of 
numbers, vastly inferior to what we are now, with a 
vastly less extent of country, with vastly less of every- 
thing we deem desirable among men. We look upon the 
change as exceedingly advantageous to us and to our 
posterity, and we fix upon something that happened 
away back, as in some way or other being connected with 
this rise of prosperity. We find a race of men living in 
that day, whom we claim as our fathers and grandfathers ; 
they were iron men ; they fought for the principle that they 
were contending for ; and we understood that by what they 
then did it has followed that the degree of prosperity 
which we now enjoy has come to us. We hold this 
annual celebration to remind ourselves of all the good 
done in this process of time, of how it was done and who 



EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH. 109 

did it, and how we are historically connected with it ; and 
we go from these meetings in better humor with ourselves ; 
we feel more attached the one to the other ; and more 
firmly bound to the country we inhabit. In every way 
we are better men in the age and race and country in 
which we live, for these celebrations. But after we have 
done all this we have not yet reached the world. There 
is something else connected with it. 

We have, besides these men descended by blood from 
our ancestors, among us, perhaps half our people, who are 
not descendants at all of these men ; they are men who 
have come from Europe — German, Irish, French, and 
Scandinavian — men that have come from Europe them- 
selves, or whose ancestors have come hither and settled 
here, finding themselves our equals in all things. If they 
look back through this history to trace their connection 
with those days by blood, they find they have none, they 
cannot carry themselves back into that glorious epoch 
and make themselves feel that they are part of us ; and 
when they look through that old Declaration of Independ- 
ence, they find that those men say that, " we hold these 
truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal," 
and then they feel that that moral sentiment taught in 
that day evidences their relation to those men ; that it 
is the father of all moral principle in them, and they have 
a right to claim it as though they were blood of the blood, 
and flesh of the flesh, of the men who wrote that declara- 
tion, and so they are. That is the electric cord in that decla- 
ration that links the hearts of patriotic and liberty-loving 
men together, that will link those patriotic hearts as long 



no EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH. 

as the love of freedom exists in the minds of men through- 
out the world. 

I am a poor hand to quote Scripture. I will try it 
again, however. It is said in one of the admonitions of 
our Lord, " As your Father in Heaven is perfect, be ye 
also perfect." The Savior, I suppose, did not expect 
that any human creature could be perfect as the Father 
in Heaven ; but He said, " As your Father in Heaven 
is perfect, be ye also perfect." He set that up as a stand- 
ard, and he who did most toward reaching that standard, 
attained the highest degree of moral perfection. So I 
say, in relation to the principle that all men are created 
equal, let it be as nearly reached as we can. If we can- 
not give freedom to every creature, let us do nothing 
that will Impose slavery upon any other creature. Let 
us then turn this government back into the channel in 
which the framers of the Constitution originally placed it. 
Let us stand firmly by each other. Let us discard all 
this quibbling about this man and the other man, this 
race and that race and the other race, being inferior, 
and therefore they must be placed in an inferior position — 
discarding our standing that we have left us. Let us 
discard all these things, and unite as one people through- 
out this land, until we shall once more stand up declaring 
that all men are created equal. 



M. C. MEIGS. 



MR. LINCOLN, to those who knew him most Inti- 
mately, was greatest. 
They saw and noted the gentleness, charity, love, and 
tenderness of his daily life in all his harassing occupa- 
tions, zuhile tJie pages of the history of his times record the 
proofs of his courage and wisdom, and of his fidelity to 
his country, and to human liberty. He was as eminent 
for his patience, as for his patriotism and wisdom. 



/}pv^ On^L-ayO 



112 EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH. 



EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH 

DELIVERED AT SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, JULY I/, 1 858. 

Senator DouQ-las is of world-wide renown. All the 
anxious politicians of his party, or who have been of his 
party for years past, have been looking upon him as cer- 
tainly, at no distant day, to be the President of the United 
States. They have seen in his round, jolly, fruitful .face, 
post-offices, land offices, marshalships, and cabinet appoint- 
ments, chargeships, foreign missions, and sprouting out in 
wonderful exuberance, ready to be laid hold of by their 
greedy hands. And as they have been gazing upon this 
attractive picture so long, they cannot, in the little dis- 
traction that has taken place in the party, bring them- 
selves to give up the charming hope, but with greedier 
anxiety they rush about him, sustain him, and give him 
marches, triumphal entries, and receptions beyond what, 
even in the days of his highest prosperity, they could have 
brought about in his favor. 

On the contrary, nobody has ever expected me to be 
President. In my poor, lean, lank face, nobody has ever 
seen that any cabbages were sprouting out. These are 
disadvantages, all t^ken together, that the republicans 
labor under : We have to fight this battle upon principle 
alone. I am, in a certain sense, made the standard-bearer 
in behalf of the republicans. So I hope those with whom 
I am surrounded have principle enough to nerve them- 



EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH. 113 

selves for the task, and leave nothing undone that can be 
fairly done, to bring about the right result. 

My declarations upon this subject of negro slavery 
may be misrepresented, but cannot be misunderstood. I 
have said that I do not understand the Declaration to 
mean that all men were created equal in all respects. 
They are not our equal in color ; but I suppose that it does 
mean to declare that all men are created equal in some 
respects ; they are equal in their right to " life, liberty, and 
the pursuit of happiness." Certainly the negro is not our 
equal in color, perhaps not in many other respects ; still, 
in the right to put into his mouth the bread that his own 
hands have earned, he is the equal of Cv^ery other man, 
white or black. In pointing out that more has been given 
you, you cannot be justified in taking away the little which 
has been given him. All I ask for the negro is that if 
you do not like him, let him alone. If God gave him. 
but little that little let him enjoy. 
8 



114 EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH. 



EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH 

AT OTTAWA, ILLINOIS, AUGUST 21, 1 858. 

I hold that there is no reason in the world why the 
negro is not entitled to all the natural rights enumerated 
in the Declaration of Independence, the right to life, lib- 
erty, and the pursuit of happiness. I hold, that he is as 
much entitled to these, as the white man. I agree with 
Judge Douglas, that he is not my equal in many respects, 
— certainly not in color — perhaps not in moral or intel- 
lectual endowment. But in the right to eat the bread, 
without the leave of any body else, which his own hand 
earns, he is my equal, and the equal of Judge Douglas, 
and the equal of every living man. 



THOMAS A. EDISON, 



"5 



THE life and character of Abraham Lincoln, and his 
great services to this country during the war of 
the rebellion, will stand as a monument long after the 
granite monuments erected to his memory have crum- 
bled in the dust. 




Menlo Park, 1880. 



ii6 EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH. 



EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH 

AT FREEPORT, ILLINOIS, AUGUST 2/, 1 858. 

I have supposed myself, since the organization of the ' 
Republican party at Bloomington, in May, 1856, bound 
as a party man, by the platforms of the party, then, and 
since. If, in any interrogatories which I shall answer, I 
go beyond the scope of what is within these platforms, 
it will be perceived that no one is responsible but myself. 

1st. I do not now, nor ever did, stand in favor of the 
unconditional repeal of the Fugitive Slave Law. 

2d. I do not now, or ever did, stand pledged 
against the admission of any more slave States into the 
Union. 

3d. I do not stand pledged against the admission of 
a new State into the Union, with such a Constitution as 
the people of that State may see fit to make. 

4th. I do not stand to-day, pledged to the abolition 
of slavery in the District of Columbia. 

5th. I do not stand pledged to the prohibition of 
the slave-trade between the different States. 

6th, I am implied, if not expressly, pledged to a 
belief in the right and duty of Congress to prohibit slav- 
ery in all the United States Territories., 

7th. I am not generally opposed to honest acquisi- 
tion of territory; and, in any given case, I would or 
would not oppose such acquisition, accordingly as I might 
think such acquisition would, or would not, aggravate the 
slavery question among ourselves 



HUGH MCCULLOCH. 117 



JUST a; the moment when the people were rejoicing 
over the fall of Richmond and the surrender of the 
Confederate armies, the Chief Magistrate of the Na- 
tion, the most beloved and most trusted of men, fell by the 
hand of an assassin. For a moment the nation was struck 
ft dumb by the atrocity of the act, and the magnitude of the 
loss that had been sustained. As the report flashed over 
;; the wires that the beloved Chief Magistrate of the Nation, 
ff in the midst of rejoicing over our victories and the pros- 
pect of returning peace, had been slain, what heart was 
there throughout this broad land which was not filled 
with anguish and apprehension ? — what thinking man did 
not put to himself the questions. Can the Republic 
stand this unexpected calamity? Can our popular insti- 
tutions bear this new trial ? The anof-uish remained and 
still remains, but the apprehension existed but for a 
moment. Scarcely had the announcement been made that 
Lincoln had fallen, before it was followed by the report 
that the Vice-President had taken the oath of President, 
and that the functions of government were being per- 
formed as regularly and quietly as though nothing had 
happened. And what followed ? The body of the beloved 
President was taken from Washington to Illinois through 
crowded cities, among a grief-stricken and deeply excited 
people, mourning as no people ever mourned, and moved 
as no people were ever moved ; and yet there was no 
popular violence, no outbreak of popular passion ; borne 
a thousand miles to its last resting-place, hundreds of 
thousands doinor such honor to the remains as were never 



n8 HUGH M'CULLOCH, 

paid to those t,f king or conqueror, and the public peace 
notwithstanding intense indignation was mixed with 
intense sorrow, was in no instance disturbed. Hereafter 
there will be no skepticism among us in regard to the 
wisdom, the excellence and the power of republican insti- 
tutions. There is no country upon earth that could have 
passed through the trials to which the United States have 
been subjected during the four years of civil war with 
out being broken into fragments. 

The more I saw of Mr. Lincoln the higher became my 
admiration of his ability and his character. Before I went 
to Washington, and for a short period after, I doubted both 
his nerve and his statesmanship ; but a closer observation 
relieved me of these doubts, and before his death I had 
come to the conclusion that he was a man of will, of 
energy, of well-balanced mind, and wonderful sagacity. 
His practice of story-telling when the government seemed 
to be in imminent peril, and the sublimest events were 
transpiring, surprised, if it did not sometimes disgust, those 
who did not know him well ; but it indicated on his part 
no want of a proper appreciation of the terrible responsi- 
bility which rested upon him as the Chief Magistrate of a 
great nation engaged in the suppression of a desperate 
rebellion which threatened its overthrow. Story-telling 
with him was something more than a habit. He was so 
accustomed to it in social life and in the practice of his 
profession, that it became a part of his nature, and so 
accurate was his recollection, and so great a fund had he 
at command, that he had always anecdotes and stories to 
illustrate his arguments and delight those whose tastes 
were similar to his own ; but those who judged from this 



HUGH M'CULLOCH. 119 

trait that he lacked deep feeling or sound judgment, or a 
proper sense of the responsibility of his position, had no 
just appreciation of his character. He possessed all 
these qualities in an eminent degree. It was true of him, 
as is true of all really noble and good men, that those who 
knew him best had the highest admiration of him. He 
was not a man of genius, but he possessed, in a large 
degree, what is far more valuable in a public man, 
excellent common sense. He did net undertake to direct 
public opinion, but no man understood better the leadings 
of the popular will or the beatings of the popular heart. 
He did not seem to gain this knowledge from reading or 
from observation, for he read very few of our public jour- 
nals, and was little inclined to call out the opinions of 
others. He was a representative of the people, and he un- 
derstood what the people desired rather by a study of him- 
self than of them. Granting that, although constitution- 
ally honest himself, he did not put a very high valuation 
upon honesty in others, and that he sometimes permitted his 
partiality for his friends to influence his action in a manner 
that was hardly consistent with an upright administration 
of his great office, few men have held high position whose 
conduct would so well bear the severest criticism as 
Mr. Lincoln's. The people have already passed judg- 
ment in favor of the nobleness and uprightness of his 
character and the wisdom of his administration, and the 
pen of impartial history will confirm the judgment. 



New York, 1882. 



'=^itli,^^9?7'^^,c-/^o4<^ 



120 EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH. 

EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH 

AT GALESBURG, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 7, 1 858. 

I have all the while maintained, that in so far as it 
should be insisted that there was an equality between the 
white and black races that should produce a perfect so- 
cial and political equality, it was an impossibility. This, 
you have seen in my printed speeches ; and with it, I 
have said, that in their right to " life, liberty and the pur- 
suit of happiness," as proclaimed in that old Declaration, 
the inferior races are our equals. And these declarations 
I have constantly made in reference to the abstract 
moral question, to contemplate and consider when we 
are legislating about any new country, which is not 
already cursed with the actual presence of the evil — 
slavery. I have never manifested any impatience with 
the necessities that spring from the actual presence of 
black people among us, and the actual existence of slav- 
ery among us, where it does already exist ; but I have 
isisted that, in legislating for new countries, where it does 
not exist, there is no just rule, other than that of 
moral and abstract right ! With reference to those 
new countries, those maxims as to the right of a 
people to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happi- 
ness," were the just rules to be constantly referred to. 
There is no misunderstanding this, except by men inter- 
ested to misunderstand it. I take it that I have to 
address an intelligent and reading community, who will 
pursue what I say, weigh it, and then judge whether I 



EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH. 121 

advance improper or unsound views, or whether I 
advance hypocritical, and deceptive, and contrary views 
in different portions of the country. I beHeve myself to 
be guilty of no such thing as the latter, though, of course, 
I cannot claim that I am entirely free from all error in 
the opinions I advance. 

I have said once before, and I will repeat it now, that 
Mr. Clay, when he was once answering an objection to 
the Colonization Society, that it had a tendency to the 
ultimate emancipation of the slaves, said that " those who 
would repress all tendencies to liberty and ultimate 
emancipation, must do more than put down the benevo- 
lent efforts of the Colonization Society — they must go 
back to the era of our liberty and independence, and 
muzzle the cannon that thunders its annual joyous return 
— they must blot out .the moral lights around us — they 
must penetrate the human soul, and eradicate the light of 
reason, and the love of liberty," and I do think — I repeat, 
though I said it on a former occasion, — that Judge 
Douglas, and whoever, like him, teaches that the negro 
has no share, humble though it may be, in the Declara- 
tion of Independence, is going back to the era of our 
liberty and independence, and so far as in him lies, 
muzzling the cannon that thunders its annual joyous 
return; that he is blowing out the moral lights around us, 
when he contends that whoever wants slaves has a right 
to hold them : that he is penetrating, so far as lies in his 
power, the human soul, and eradicating the light of reason 
and the love of liberty, when he is in every possible way 
preparing the public mind, by his vast influence, for 
making the institution of slavery perpetual and national. 



122 EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH. 

And now, it only remains for me to say that it is a 
very grave question for the people of this Union to 
consider — whether, in view of the fact that this slavery 
question has been the only one that has ever endangered 
our Republican institutions — the only one that has ever 
threatened or menaced a dissolution of the Union — that 
has ever disturbed us in such a way as to make us fear 
for the perpetuity of our liberty — in view of these facts, 
I think it is an exceedingly interesting, and important 
question for this people to consider whether we shall 
engage in the policy of acquiring additional territory, 
discarding altogether from our consideration, while 
obtaining new territory, the question how it may affect 
us in regard to this, the only endangering element to our 
liberties and national greatness. The Judge's view has 
been expressed. I, in my answers to his question, 
have expressed mine. I think it will become an impor- 
tant and practical question. Our views are before the 
public. I am willing and anxious that they should con- 
sider them fully — that they should turn it about, 
and consider the importance of the question, and arrive 
at a just conclusion as to whether it is, or is not, wise 
in the people of this Union, in the acquisition of new 
territory, to consider whether it will add to the disturb- 
ance that is existing among us — whether it will add to 
the one only danger that has ever threatened the perpe- 
tuity of the Union, or of our own liberties. 

I think it is extremely important that they shall 
decide, and rightly decide, that question before entering 
upon that policy. 



JT. B. AFFLECK. 123 



I LOVE Abraham Lincoln so ardently, that I scarcely 
dare write m}' opinion of him. His obscure parent- 
age, his humble birth, his lack of childhood's joys, his 
exalted attainments, his peculiar talents, his natural gifts, 
his sympathy for the oppressed, his patriotism for his 
country, his loyalty to truth, his pure life, and his having 
had all these excellencies crowned with a martyr's death, 
renders him beyond doubt, one of the most illustrious 
men that ever labored to make goodness triumphant, and 
brotherly charity universal. 

Springfield, 1881. 



124 EXTRACT FROM AIR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH. 

EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH, 

AT QUINCY, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 1 3, 1 858. 

I was aware, when it was first agreed that Judge 
Douglas and I were to have these seven joint discussions, 
that they were the successive acts of a drama — perhaps I 
should say, to be enacted not mearly in the face of audi- 
ences like this, but in the face of the nation, and to some 
extent, by my relation to him, and not from anything in 
myself, in the face of the world — and I am anxious that 
they should be conducted with dignity and in good 
temper, which would be befitting the vast audiences 
before which it was conducted. 

I was not entirely sure that I should be able to 
hold my own with him, but I at least had the purpose 
made to do as well as I could upon him ; and now I say 
that I will not be the first to cry " hold." I think it orig- 
inated with the Judge, and when he quits, I probably 
will. But I shall not ask any favors at all. He asks me, 
or he asks the audiences, if I wish to push this matter to 
the point of personal difficulty? I tell him. No. He 
did not make a mistake, in one of his early speeches, 
when he called me an amiable man, though perhaps he did 
when he called me an "intelligent" man. It really hurts 
me very much to suppose that I have wronged anybody 
on earth. I again tell him No ! I very much prefer, when 
this canvass shall be over, however it may result, that we 
at least part without any bitter recollections of personal 
difficulties. 



EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH. 125 

We have in this nation this element of domestic 
slavery. It is a macter of absolute certainty that it is r. 
disturbing element. It is the opinion of all the great 
men who have expressed an opinion upon it, that it is 
a dangerous element. We keep up a controversy in 
regard to it. That controversy necessarily springs from 
difference of opinion, and if we can learn exactly — can 
reduce to the lowest elements — what that difference of 
opinion is, we perhaps shall be better prepared for discuss- 
ing the different system of policy that we would propose 
in reofard to that disturbinsf element. I suofaest that the 
difference of opinion, reduced to its lowest terms, is no 
other than the difference between the men who think 
slavery a wrong and those who do not think it wrong. 
We think it is a wrong not confining itself merely to the 
persons or the States where it exists, but that it is a wrong 
in its tendency, to say the least, that extends itself to the ex- 
istence of the whole nation. Because we think it wrong 
we propose a course of policy that shall deal with it as a 
wrong. We deal with it as with any other wrong, in so 
far as we can prevent its growing any larger, and so deal 
with it that in the run of time there maybe some promise 
of an end to it. We have a due regard to the actual 
presence of it among us and the difficulties of getting rid 
of it in any satisfactory way, and all the constitutional 
obligations thrown about it. I suppose that in reference 
both to its actual existence in the nation, and to our con- 
stitutional obligations, we have no right at all to disturb 
it in the States where it exists, and we profess that we 
have no more inclination to disturb it than we have the 
right to do it. We go farther than that ; we don't pro- 



126 EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH, 

pose to disturb it where, in one instance, we think the 
Constitution would permit us. We think the constitution 
would permit us to disturb It in the District of Columbia. 
Still, we do not propose to do that, unless it should be in 
terms which I don't suppose the nations is very likely soon 
to agree to — the terms of making the emancipation gradual 
and compensating the unwilling owners. Where we 
suppose we have the constitutional right, we restrain our- 
selves in reference to the actual existence of the institu- 
tion and the difficulties thrown about it. We also oppose 
it as an evil so far as it seeks to spread itself. We in- 
sist on the policy that shall restrict it to its present limits. 
We don't suppose that in doing this we violate anything 
due to the actual presence of the institution, or anything 
due to the constitutional guaranties thrown around it 



J^F. MERRITT. 127 



THERE is not, to my mind, outside of Divine Writ, 
so convincing an evidence of the immortality of the 
soul, as is furnished by the growth and development of 
the mind and character of this greatest of American Pres- 
idents to meet the exio-encies of the direction and control 
of a great revolution, on the successful issue of which 
depended the happiness of one-fifth of the world. From 
a poor country boy, uneducated and untrained, we find 
him advancing through the grades of a commonplace 
law practice, to the government of a great nation in one 
of the most perplexing political epochs that history 
records, controlling and directing events to a successful 
issue — to the most successful issue possible, as retrospec- 
tion after a lapse of years proves. History furnishes 
scarcely a parallel to the character of this greatest of 
reformers. The love of power has produced wise 
despots, who have endured a life of earnest labor, full of 
privations, for the sake of innovation and improvement ; 
Icabots have lived miserable lives, or suffered infamous 
deaths for an idea involving improvement, but the 
motive in both cases is rather personal than general. 
The rule with mankind as practical in politics or religion, 
is conservation. In the face of opposition and struggle, 
we shrink from responsibilities, and content ourselves 
with contracting the sphere of intended reforms, to our 
immediate surroundings. 



128 IV. MERRITT. 

As his career differed from that of the other heroes of 
history, in that he lived and strove for reforms that 
would benefit mankind, though his own life should be 
the price, in so far is Abraham Lincoln the greatest of 
Reformers — the noblest of Patriots — the ablest of men. 



U. S. Army, 1882. 




CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER. 129 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN was the genius of common 
L sense. In his daily Hfe he was a representative of 
the American people, and probably the best leader we 
could have had in the crisis of our national life. He 
was a great leader, because to his common sense was 
added the gift of imagination. 

Hartford, 1880. 
9 



I30 SPEECH AT ALTON. 



SPEECH AT ALTON, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 

15, 1858. 

On this subject of treating slavery as a wrong, and 
limiting its spread, let me say a word. Has anything 
ever threatened the existence of this Union save and ex- 
cept this very institution of slavery ? What is it that we 
hold most dear among us ? Our own liberty and pros- 
perity. What has ever threatened our liberty and 
prosperity, save and except this institution of slavery ? 
If this is true, how do you propose to improve the con- 
dition of things by enlarging slavery? — by spreading it 
out, and making it bigger ? You may have a wen or 
cancer upon your person, and not be able to cut it out 
lest you bleed to death : but surely, it is no way to cure 
it, to ingraft it and spread it over your whole body — that 
is no proper way of treating what you regard a wrong. 
You see, this peaceful way of dealing with it as a wrong 
— restricting the spread of it, and not allowing it to go 
into new countries where it has not already existed — 
that is the peaceful way, the old-fashioned way, the 
way in which the fathers themselves set us the example. 

" Is slavery wrong?" 

That is the real issue. That is the issue that will 
continue in this country, when these poor tongues of 
Judge Douglas and myself shall be silent. It is the 
eternal struggle between these two principles — right and 
wrong — throughout the world. They are two principles 



SPEECH AT ALTON. 131 

that have stood face to face from the beginning of time ; 
and will ever continue to struw^le. The one is the com- 
mon right of humanity, and the other, the divine right of 
kings. It is the same principle in whatever shape it 
develops itself. It is the same spirit that says, "You 
work, and toil, and earn bread, and I'll eat it." No 
matter in what shapes it comes, whether from the mouth 
of a king, who seeks to bestride the people of his own 
nation, and live by the fruit of their labor, or from one 
race of men as an apology for enslaving another race, 
it is the same tyrannical principle. 

I do not claim, gentlemen, to be unselfish ; I do not 
pretend that I would not like to go to the United States 
Senate ; I make no such hypocritical pretense ; but I do 
say to you, that in this mighty issue it is nothing to the 
mass of the people of the nation, whether or not Judge 
Douglas or myself shall ever be heard of after this night; 
it may be a trifle to either of us, but in connection with 
this mighty question, upon which hangs the destinies of 
the nation, perhaps, it is absolutely nothing. 



132 EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SFEECJI, 



EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH 

AT COLUMBUS, OHIO, SEPTEMBER, 1 859. 

Public Opinion in this country is everything. In a' 
nation Hke ours this popular sovereignty and squatter 
Sovereignty have already wrought a change in the public 
mind to the extent I have stated. There is no man in 
this crowd who can contradict It. Now, if you are op- 
posed to slavery honestly, as much as anybody, I ask you 
to note that fact, and the like of which is to follow, to be 
plastered on, layer after layer, until very soon you are 
prepared to deal with the negro everywhere as with the 
brute. If public sentiment has not been debauched al- 
ready to this point, a new turn of the screw in that direc- 
tion is all that is wanting ; and this is constantly being 
done by the teachers of this Insidious popular sovereignty. 
You need but one or two turns further until your minds, 
now ripening under these teachings, will be ready for all 
these things, and you will receive and support or submit 
to, the slave trade, revived with all Its horrors, a slave 
code enforced In our territories, and a new Fred Scott 
decision to bring slavery up into the very heart of the 
free North. This, I must say, is but carrying out those 
words prophetically spoken by Mr. Clay, many, many 
years ago — I believe more than thirty years — when he 
told his audience that If they would repress all tenden- 
cies to liberty and ultimate emancipation, they must go 



EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH. 133 

back to the era of our independence and muzzle the cannon 
which thundered its annual joyous return on the Fourth 
of July ; they must blow out the moral lights around us ; 
they must penetrate the human soul and eradicate the 
love of liberty ; but until they did these things, and others 
eloquently enumerated by him, they could not repress all 
tendencies to ultimate emancipation. I ask attention to 
the fact that in a pre-eminent degree these popular sov- 
ereio^ns are at this work ; blowinor out the moral lights 
around us ; teaching that the negro is no longer a man, 
but a brute ; that the Declaration has nothing to do with 
him ; that he ranks with the crocodile and the reptile ; 
that man with body and soul, is a matter of dollars and 
cents. 



134 EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH. 



EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH 

AT CINCINNATI, OHIO, SEPTEMBER, 1 859. 

It has occurred to me here, to-night, that if I ever 
do shoot over the Hne, at the people on the other side of 
the Hne, into a slave State, and purpose to do so, keeping 
my skin safe, that I have now about the best chance I 
shall ever have. I should not wonder that there are 
some Kentuckians about this audience ; we are close to 
Kentucky ; and whether that be so or not, we are on ele- 
vated ground, and by speaking distinctly, I should not 
wonder if some of the Kentuckians would hear me on the 
other side of the river. For that reason, I propose to 
address a portion of what I have to say, to the Kentuck- 
ians. 

I say, then, in the first place, to the Kentuckians, 
that I am what they call, as I understand it, a " Black 
Republican." I think slavery is wrong, morally and 
politically. I desire that it should be no further spread 
in these United States, and I should not object, if it 
should gradually terminate in the whole Union. While 
I say this for myself, I say to you, Kentuckians, that I 
understand you differ radically with me upon this propo- 
sition ; that you believe slavery is a good thing ; that 
slavery is right ; that it ought to be extended and perpet- 
uated in this Union. Now, there being this broad differ- 



EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH. 135 

ence between us, I do not pretend, in addressing myself 
to you, Kentuckians, to attempt proselyting you ; that 
would be a vain effort. I do not enter upon it. I 
will tell you, so far as I am authorized to speak for the 
opposition, what we mean to do with you. We mean to 
treat you, as near as we possibly can, as Washington, 
Jefferson, and Madison treated you. We mean to leave 
you alone, and in no way to interfere with your institu- 
tion ; to abide by all and every compromise of the 
Constitution, and, in a word, coming back to the original 
proposition, to treat you, so far as degenerated men (if 
we have degenerated) may, according to the examples of 
those noble fathers — Washington, Jefferson, and Madi- 
son. We mean to remember that you are as good as we ; 
that there is no difference between us, other than the 
difference of circumstances. We mean to recognize and 
bear in mind always, that you have as good hearts in 
your bosoms as other people, or as we claim to have, 
and treat you accordingly. We mean to marry your 
girls, when we have a chance — the white ones, I mean — 
and I have the honor to inform you that I once did have 
a chance in that way. 

I have told you what we mean to do. I want to 
know, now, when that thing takes place, what you mean 
to do. I often hear it intimated that you mean to divide 
the Union whenever a Republican, or anything like it, 
is elected President of the United States. If that is so, 
I want to know what you are going to do with your half 
of it ? Are you going to split the Ohio down through, 
and push your half off a piece ? Or are you going to 
keep it right alongside of us outrageous fellows ? Or 



136 EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH. 

are you going to build up a wall some way, between your 
country and ours, by which that movable property of 
yours can't come over here any more, to the danger of 
your losing it? Do you think you can better yourselves 
on that subject, by leaving us here, under no obligation 
whatever to return those specimens of your movable 
property that come hither? You have divided the 
Union, because we would not do right with you, as you 
think, upon that subject ; when we cease to be under 
obligations to do anything for you, how much better off 
do you think you will be ? Will you make war upon us, 
and kill us all ? Why, gentlemen, I think you are as gal- 
lant and as brave men as live ; that you can fight as 
bravely in a good cause, man for man, as any other peo- 
ple living ; that you have shown yourselves capable of 
this, upon various occasions ; but, man for man, you are 
not better than we are, and there are not so many of 
you as there are of us. You will never make much of a 
hand at whipping us. If we were fewer in numbers than 
you, I think that you could whip us ; if we were equal, 
it would likely be a drawn battle ; but being inferior in 
numbers, you will make nothing by attempting to master 
us. 



LOT M. MORRILL. 137 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN, with George Washington, 
l\. will stand out in the pages of American history in 
exalted pre-eminence. Mr. Lincoln was suited to the 
epoch which rightly anticipated his advent to the Presi- 
dency ; the qicality of the man was the equivalent of the 
perils of the Chief Magistrate. Throughout his career, 
he displayed a character of perfect integrity, sincerity, 
undeviating rectitude and courage, while he exhibited, 
in rare combination, wisdom, gentleness and conciliation. 
His "firmness in the right, as God gave him to see," 
was, to him, faith, courage, patience and boundless endur 
ance in the cause of the right — to the American people, 
nationality restored, liberty and union vindicated, the 
dark stain of slavery erased, and free institutions pre- 
served. 

Augusta, 1880. 



138 EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH. 



EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH 

AT JONESBORO, ILL., SEPTEMBER 1 5, 1 858. 

In SO far as Judge Douglas has insisted that all the 
States have the right to do exactly as they please about 
all their domestic relations, including that of slavery, I 
agree entirely with him. I hold myself under constitu- 
tional obligations to allow the people in all the states, 
without interference, direct or indirect, to do exactly as 
they please ; and I deny that I have any inclination to 
interfere with them, even if there were no such constitu- 
tional obligation. 

I say, in the way our fathers originally left the Slav- 
ery question, the institution was in the course of ulti- 
mate extinction, and the public mind rested in the 
belief that it was in the course of ultimate extinction. 
I say, when this Government was first established, it was 
the policy of its founders to prohibit the spread of slavery 
into the new Territories of the United States, where 
it had not existed. All I have asked, or desired, any- 
where, is that it should be placed back again upon 
the basis that the fathers of our govern-ment origin- 
ally placed it upon. I have no doubt that it would 
become extinct, for all time to come, if we but re- 
adopted the policy of the fathers by restricting it to the 
limits it has already covered — restricting it from the new 
Territories. 



ROBERT ALLYN. 139 



IN the Autumn of 1859, I was residing in Cincin- 
nati, and heard the late Stephen A. Douglas speak 
twice in that city or vicinity, and Mr. Lincoln speak 
once, from the steps of the Burnet House, I believe. I 
was impressed greatly with the contrast between them. 
Mr. Douglas was aggressive, confident in himself, and 
evidently bent on crushing his opponents. Mr. Lincoln 
seemed at first too modest and undemonstrative. But 
as he went on and forgot himself, and apparently his 
party, in his interest in grand principles, he rose in dig- 
nity, till he seemed more the embodiment of Justice, 
Freedom and Love of Humanity, than a mere man. He 
was lost in the grandeur of the cause, and stood un- 
selfishly for the rights of all men, in all ages. And I 
have often thought that this idea of him then, gathered 
by me, best expresses the essence of his character, and 
inspired disregard of personal interests, and a complete 
self-surrender of everything to the welfare of all men, 
especially the humblest 




Carbondale, 1880. 



140 ADDRESS AT COOPER INSTITUTE. 



EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S ADDRESS 

DELIVERED AT COOPER INSTITUTE, FEBRUARY 2/, 1860. 

Let all who believe that "Our fathers, who framed 
the Government under which we live, understood this 
question just as well, and even better, than we do now," 
speak as they spoke, and act as they acted upon it. This 
is all Republicans ask — all Republicans desire — in relation 
to slavery. As those fathers marked it, so let it be again 
marked, as an evil not to be extended, but to be tolerated 
and protected only because of and so far as its actual 
presence among us makes that toleration and protection 
a necessity. Let all the guaranties those fathers gave it 
be, not grudgingly, but fully and fairly maintained. 

It is exceedingly desirable that all parts of this great 
Confederacy shall be at peace, and in harmony, one with 
another. Even though much provoked, let us do noth- 
ing through passion and ill temper. Even though the 
Southern people will not so much as listen to us, let us 
calmly consider their demands, and yield to them if, in 
our deliberate view of our duty, we possibly can. 

Wrong as we think slavery is, we can yet afford to 
let it alone where it is, because that much is due to the 
necessity arising from its actual presence in the nation ; 
but can we, while our votes will prevent it, allow it to 
spread into the National Territories, and to overrun us 
here in these Free States ? If our sense of duty forbids 



ADDRESS AT COOPER INSTITUTE. 141 

this, then let us standby our duty, fearlessly and effectively. 
Let us be diverted by none of those sophistical contriv- 
ances wherewith we are so industriousl}^ plied and bela- 
bored — contrivances such as groping for some middle 
ground between the right and the wrong, vain as the 
search for a man who should be neither a living man nor 
a dead man — such as a policy of " don't care " on a ques- 
tion about which all true men do care — such as Union 
appeals beseeching true Union men to yield to Disunion- 
ists reversing the divine rule, and calling, not the sinners, 
but the righteous to repentance — such as invocations to 
Washington, imploring men to unsay what Washington 
said, and undo what Washington did. Neither let us be 
slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, 
nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the 
Government nor dungeons to ourselves. Let us have 
faithy that right makes vtight, and in that faith let us, to 
the end, dare to do our duty as we U7iderstand it. 



i4a ADBRESS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



ADDRESS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

TO THE CITIZENS OF SPRINGFIELD, ON HIS DEPARTURE 
FOR WASHINGTON, FEBRUARY IITH, l86r. 

My Friends:: 

No one, not in my position,, can appreciate the sad- 
ness I feel at this parting; To this people I owe all that 
I am., Here I have lived more than a quarter of a cen- 
tury ; here my children were born, and here one of them 
lies buried.. I know not how soon I shall see you again. 
A duty devolves upon me which is, perhaps, greater 
than that which has devolved upon any other man since 
the days of Washington.. He never would have suc- 
ceeded except by the aid of Divine Providence, upon 
which he at all times relied., I feel that I cannot suc- 
ceed without the same Divine aid which sustained him,, 
and on the same Almighty Being I place my reliance for 
support ; and I hope you, my friends, will all pray that I 
may receive that Divine assistance, without which I can- 
not succeed, but with which success is certain. Again. I 
bid you an affectionate farewell. 
















t; '."4m,^^^S 



JOSHUA F. SPEED. 143 



IN 1834, I was a citizen of Springfield, Sangamon Co., 
Illinois. Mr. Lincoln lived in the country, fourteen 
miles from the town. He was a laborer, and a deputy 
surveyor, and at the same time a member of the legislature, 
elected the year previous. In 1835, he was a candidate 
for re-election.. 1 had not seen him for the first six 
months of my residence there, but had heard him spoken 
of as a man of wonderful ability on the stump. He was 
a long, gawky, ugly, shapeless man. He had never spok- 
en, as far as I know of, at the county seat, during his 
first candidacy. The second time he was a candidate, he 
had already made,, in the legislature, considerable repu- 
tation ; and on his renomination to the legislature, adver- 
tised to meet his opponents, and speak in Springfield, on 
a given day. I believe that that was the first public 
speech he ever made at the court-house. He was never 
ashamed, so far as I know, to admit his ignorance uqon 
any subject,, or of the meaning of any word, no matter 
how ridiculous it might make him appear. As he was 
riding into town the evening before the speech, he 
passed the handsomest house in the village, which had 
just been built by Geo. Farquer; upon it he had placed 
a lightning-rod, the only one in the town or county. 
Some ten or twelve young men were riding with 
Lincoln. He asked them what that rod was for. They 
told him it was to keep off the lightning. " How does it 
do it ? " he asked ; none of them could tell., He rode into 



144 JOSHUA F. SPEED. 

town, bought a book on the properties of lightning, andl 
before morning knew all about it. When he was iofno-. 
rant on any subject, he addressed himself to the task of 
being ignorant no longer. On this occasion, a large 
number of citizens came from a distance to hear him 
speak. He had very able opponents. I stood near him 
and heard the speech. I was fresh from Kentucky 
then, and had heard most of her great orators. It struck 
me then, as it seems to me now, that I never heard a 
more effective speaker. All the party weapons of 
offense and defense seemed to be entirely under his 
control. The large crowd seemed to be swayed by him 
as he pleased. He was a Whig, and quite a number of 
candidates were associated with him on the Whig ticket ; 
seven, I think, in number ; there were seven Democrats 
opposed to them. The debate was a joint one, and Lin- 
coln was appointed to close it, which he did as I have 
heretofore described, in a most masterly style. The 
people commenced leaving the court-house, when Geo. 
Farquer, a man of much celebrity in the State, rose, and 
asked the people to hear him. He was not a candidate, 
but was a man of talents, and of great State notoriety, 
as a speaker. He commenced his speech by turning 
to Lincoln and saying, " This young man will have 
to be taken down ; and I am truly sorry that the 
task devolves upon me." He then proceeded in a vein 
of irony, sarcasm, and wit, to ridicule Lincoln in every way 
that he could. Lincoln stood, not more than ten feet 
from him, with folded arms, and an eye flashing fire, and 
listened attentively to him, without ever interrupting him 
Lincoln then took the stand for reply. He was pale and 



JOSHUA F. SPEED. 145 

his spirits seemed deeply moved. His opponent was 
one worthy of his steel. He answered him fully and 
completely. The conclusion of his speech I remember 
even now, so deep an impression did it make on me then. 
He said, " The gentleman commenced his speech by 
saying that this young man would have to be taken down, 
alluding to me ; I am not so young in years as I am in 
the tricks and trades of a politician ; but live long, or die 
young, I would rather die now, than, like the gentleman, 
change my politics, and simultaneous with the change re- 
ceive an office worth three thousand dollars per year, 
and then have to erect a lightning-rod over my house, to 
protect a guilty conscience from an offended God." He 
used the lightning-rod against Farquer as he did every- 
thing in after life. 

In 1837, after his return from the legislature, Mr. Lin- 
coln obtained a license to practice law. He lived four- 
teen miles in the country, and had ridden into town on a 
borrowed horse, with no earthly goods but a pair of saddle- 
bags, two or three law books, and some clothing which he 
had in the saddle-bags. He took an office, and engaged 
from the only cabinet-maker then in the village, a single 
bedstead. He came into my store (I was a merchant 
then), set his saddle-bags on the counter and asked me 
" what the furniture for a singrle bedstead would cost." I 
took slate and pencil and made calculation, and found the 
sum for furniture complete would amount to seventeen 
dollars in all. Said he, " It is probably cheap enough : but 
I want to say that, cheap as it is, I have not the money 
to pay. But if you will credit me until Christmas, and my 

experiment here as a lawyer is a success, I will pay you then. 
10 



146 JOSHUA F. SPEED. 

If I fail in that I will probably never be able to pay you at 
all." The tone of his voice was so melancholy that I felt 
for him. I looked up at him, and 1 thought then, as I 
think now, that I never saw so gloomy and melancholy a 
face. I said to him, " The contraction of so small a 
debt seems to affect you so deeply, I think I can suggest 
a plan by which you will be able to attain your end, 
without incurring any debt. I have a very large room, 
and a very large double-bed in it ; which you are per- 
fectly welcome to share with me if you choose." 
"Where is your room?" asked he. " Up stairs," said I, 
pointing to the stairs leading from the store to my room. 
Without saying a word, he took his saddle-bags on his 
arm, went up stairs, set them down on the floor, came 
down again, and with a face beaming with pleasure and 
smiles, exclaimed: "Well, Speed, I'm moved." Mr. 
Lincoln was then twenty-seven years old, almost without 
friends, and with no property except the saddle-bags 
with the clothes mentioned, within. Now, for me to 
have lived to see such a man rise from point to point, and 
from place to place, .filling all the places to which he was 
■called with honor and distinction, until he reached the 
presidency, filling the presidential chair in the most trying 
time that any ruler ever had, seems to me more like 
fiction than fact. None but a genius like his could have 
accomplished so much ; and none but a government like 
ours could produce such a man. It gave the young 
■eagle scope for his wings ; he tried it, and soared to the 
top! 

In 1839 ^^- Lincoln, being then alawyer in full prac- 
tice, attended all the courts adjacent to Springfield. He 



JOSHUA F. SPEED. 147 

was then attending court at Christiansburg, about thirty 
miles distant. I was there when the court broke up ; quite 
a number of lawyers were coming from court to Spring- 
field. We were riding along a country road, two and 
two together, some distance apart, Lincoln and J no. J. 
Hardin being behind (Hardin was afterward made 
colonel and was killed at Buena Vista). We were pass- 
ing through a thicket of wild plum and crab-apple trees, 
where we stopped to water our horses. After waiting 
some time Hardin came up and we asked him where Lin- 
coln was. " Oh," said he, "when I saw him last" (there had 
been a severe wind storm) "he had caught two little birds 
in his hand, which the wind had blown from their nest, 
and he was hunting for the nest." Hardin left him be- 
fore he found it. He finally found the nest, and placed 
the birds, to use his own words, " in the home provided 
for them by their mother." When he came up with the 
party they laughed at him ; said he, earnestly : " I could 
not have slept to-night if I had not given those two little 
birds to their mother." 

This was the flower that bloomed so beautifully in 
his n^-ture, on his native prairies. He never lost the 
nobility of his nature, nor the kindness of his heart, by 
being removed to a higher sphere of action. On the 
contrary, both were increased. The enlarged sphere of 
his action developed the natural promptings of his heart. 

Louisville, 1882. 



148 LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE, 



LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE. 

Springfield, III., May 23, i860. 
"Hon. Geo. Ashmun, 

" President of the Republican National Convention. 
"Sir — I accept the nomination tendered me by the 
Convention over which you presided, and of which I am 
formally apprised in the letter of yourself and others, 
acting as a committee of the Convention foi that pur- 
pose. 

" The declaration of principles and sentiments which 
accompanies your letter meets my approval ; and it 
shall be my care not to violate nor disregard it in any 
part. 

" Imploring the assistance of Divine Providence, and 
with due regard to the views and feelings of all who 
were represented in the Convention ; to the rights of all 
States and Territories, and the people of the nation ; to 
the inviolability of the Constitution, and to the per- 
petual union, harmony and prosperity of all, I am most 
happy to co-operate for the practical success of the prin- 
ciples declared by the Convention. 

" Your obliged friend and fellow-citizen, 



A'n^, 





E. O, HAVEN, 149 



IN times of great trouble, men and nations, unless 
doomed to perish, recognize and call upon God. So 
did this nation in the terrible struggle produced by slav- 
ery. It now seems that any man, however highly 
endowed, much unlike Abraham Lzjtcoln, could not have 
so well filled the demand as President. Certainly, he did 
meet the demand, and well. To God be all the glory ! 




Syracuse, 1880. 



I50 SPEECH AT TOLEDO, OHIO. 



SPEECH AT TOLEDO, OHIO. 

I am leaving you on an errand of national importance, 
attended, as you are aware, with considerable difficulties. 
Let us believe, as some poet has expressed it, " Behind 
the cloud the sun is shining still." I bid you an affec- 
tionate farewell. 



CHARLES LANMAN. 151 



I FULLY concur with all that has ever been uttered — 
calculated to show that Abraham Lincoln was a pure 
and honest man, and possessor of very superior abilities. 
Among those to whom I applied for biographical 
facts, while preparing the first edition of my Dictionary 
of Congress, was Mr. Lincoln ; and his reply was so 
characteristic of the man, that I send the following : 
"Born in Hardin County, Kentucky, February 12, 1809 » 
received a limited education ; adopted the profession of 
law ; was captain of volunteers in the Black Hawk war ; 
was post-master of a small village ; four times elected to 
the Illinois Legislature, and a Representative in Con- 
gress from 1847 to 1849." "The several letters which he 
wrote to me, and two or three very pleasant interviews 
that I had with him, can never be forgotten ; but what I 
cherish with peculiar pleasure, is the fact that he once 
suggested my appointment as Librarian of Congress ; 
and when, through a distinguished friend, I suggested 
that Mr. A. R. Spofford was an applicant for the place, 
and better fitted for it than myself, the manner in which 
he commented on my suggestion was exceedingly 
gratifying. 

Washington, 1882. 



152 SPEECH DELIVERED AT INDIANAPOLIS. 



SPEECH DELIVERED AT INDIANAPOLIS, 

INDIANA. 

In all trying positions in which I shall be placed, and, 
doubtless I shall be placed in many such, my reliance will 
be placed upon you and the people of the United States ; 
and I wish you to remember, now and forever, that it is 
your business, and not mine ; that if the Union of these 
States, and the liberties of this people shall be lost, it is 
but little to any one man of fifty-two years of age, but a 
great deal to the thirty millions of people who inhabit 
these United States, and to their posterity in all coming 
time. It is your business to rise up and preserve the 
Union and liberty for yourselves, and not for me. I 
desire they should be constitutionally performed. I, as 
already intimated, am but an accidental instrument, tem- 
porary, and to serve but for a limited time, and I appeal 
to you again to constantly bear in mind that with you, 
and not with politicians, not with Presidents, not with 
office-seekers, but with you, is the question. Shall the 
Union and shall the liberties of this country be pre- 
served to the latest generations ? 



jRUFUS BLANCHARD, 153 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND THE CONVEN- 

TION OF i860. 

NATIONS, like individuals, have turning-points in 
their lives. The United States has passed 
through one of them — her first crisis since she be- 
came a nation by the adoption of a constitution in 
1789. No small amount of eloquent advocacy, as well 
as charitable compromise, were required to unite -he 
different States together in one common bond in that 
early day, even though the glories of her Revolution were 
fresh in the minds of all. The only cause of this re- 
luctance on the part of some of the States to enter into 
this compact grew out of a fear, that slavery might not 
be sustained after the national Union of the States had 
been consummated. And it is not improbable that some 
mental reservation existed as to the binding force of the 
constitution, on the part of some of the States at the 
time of signing it. When this union of all the States 
under one bond was accomplished we became, in the eyes 
of the world, a nation ; and our patriotic pride and 
fidelity to a common interest seemed to give an assurance 
of perpetual harmony. This kindred feeling was not 
disturbed till slavery had assumed rights, which were con- 



1 54 RUFUS BLANCHARD. 

sidered hostile to the honor of the North, and dangerous 
to the best interests of the nation. At this eventful 
epoch, when everybody was intent on his calling, loath 
to turn aside from his daily routine, the great issue was 
forced upon the nation in no equivocal form at the con- 
vention of i860. For the first time in the history of 
presidential conventions, this issue completely trans- 
cended all others ; that of 1856 having been somewhat 
vacillating. A suspense now hung over the whole 
country. Prophets harangued and everybody partook 
of the general excitement. When the convention met it 
was observable through a conviction that seemed to fill 
the very air, that a new order of things was at hand ; that 
new men and new measures would soon be brought to 
the front by an irresistible influence that was gathering 
force like the whirlwind. And while (as is always the 
case at such popular councils), noisy and thoughtless 
demonstrations, like the froth that floats on deep waters, 
were uppermost at times, yet the profound convictions of 
political economists transcended them, whenever the 
true issue came up for debate. It was the substance, 
not the shadow, that this element of candor demanded ; 
it asked no favors through a reciprocity of interest, but 
challenged men to support principles according to their 
merits. Political prestige weighed nothing. In vain, it 
had oft been tried to bridge over the chasm ; heroic 
treatment was demanded, and who should be the hero to 
administer it, who could buffet the storm of indignation 
ready to burst upon the head of him who accepted the 
nomination of the anti-slavery party ? Who could step 
into this arena impervious to the corruption of partisans 1 



EUFUS BLANCHARD. 155 

Who could become the political gladiator, in hand-to- 
hand conflict with the disciples of Calhoun, and the 
neophytes of the oligarchy of which he was father ? 
Who could become the animated target at whose feet the 
shafts of malice should fall harmless ? Who could be 
compromising without a letting down of principles? 
Who had firmness without arrogance, eloquence without 
pretension, charity without cupidity ? Who had the virtues 
of the statesman without the vices of the partisan ? He 
who had seen every phase of American life, and shared 
its wants, and felt its anxieties, and been taught in its 
school ; and whose spotless record now beckoned to the 
lovers of justice to follow whither he might lead. 

Abraham Lincoln. He was nominated, elected once, 
and again. His services wrung from the reluctant lips of 
his adversaries praise that they dared not refuse. The 
stickler for " blue blood " stood aghast, before the charm 
of his words — simple and potent, and fortified by the 
force of events ; and last of all, the autocrats of the 
world obsequiously bowed before the bier which held the 
genius of America — a corpse, around which a halo of 
glory shone to the uttermost parts of the earth. Other 
rulers of nations had been assassinated, but none before 
had won such acknowledgments of that kind of grandeur 
which died in him to live again. Our country, in her 
youthful fecundity, stimulated into activity by the vast- 
ness of her wild domain, through which genius became 
the handmaiden of creative power, produced a Lincoln. 
It is not essential that heraldry or even conventionalism 
should accompany merit, it is a positive principle. All 
the more lustrous if unshackled with forms. Lincoln 



156 



JiUFUS BLANCHARD. 



was its simple model — the child of our training and 
own maturity. He became our father, and his tomb is 
our shrine. 




M/^ 




Wheaton, 1882. 



/. T. TROWBRIDGE. 



157 



LINCOLN. 

HEROIC soul, in homely garb half hid, 
Sincere, sagacious, melancholy, quaint ; 
What he endured, no less than what he did. 
Has reared his monument, and crowned him saint. 




Arlington, 1880. 



158 SPEECH. 



SPEECH 

TO THE MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATURE OF INDIANA WHO 
WAITED UPON HIM AT HIS HOTEL. 

" Solomon says there is ' a time to keep silence/ and 
when men wrangle by the mouth with no certainty that 
they mean the same thing, while using the same wordy 
it perhaps were as well if they would keep silence." 

" The words ' coercion ' and ' invasion ' are much used 
in these days, and often with some temper and hot blood. 
Let us make sure, if we can, that we do not misunder- 
stand the meaning of those who use them. Let us get 
the exact definitions of these words, not from dictiona- 
ries, but from the men themselves, who certainly depre- 
cate the things they would represent by the use of the 
word. What then, is ' coercion '? What is ' invasion '? 
Would the marching of an army into South Carolina, 
without the consent of her people, and with hostile intent 
towards them, be invasion ? I certainly think it would, 
and it would be 'coercion' also if South Carolinians 
were forced to submit. But if the United States should 
merely hold and retake its own forts and other property, 
and collect the duties on foreign importations, or even 
withhold the mails from places where they were habitu- 
ally violated, would any or all these things be ' invasion ' 
or 'coercion'? Do our professed lovers of the Union, 
but who spitefully resolve that they will resist coercion 



SPEECH. 159 

and invasion, understand that such things as these on the 
^Dart of the United States would be coercion or invasion 
of a State ? If so, their idea of means to preserve the 
object of their affection would seem exceedingly thin and 
airy. If sick, the little pills of the homoeopathists would 
be much too large for it to swallow. In their view, the 
Union, as a family relation, would seem to be no regu- 
lar marriage, but a sort of ' free love' arrangement, to be 
maintained only on ' passional attraction.' By the way, in 
what consists the special sacredness of a State ? I 
speak not of the position assigned to a State in the 
Union by the Constitution ; for that, by the bond, we all 
recognize. That position, however, a State cannot carry 
out of the Union with it. I speak of that assumed 
primary right of a State to rule all which is less than it- 
self, and ruin all which is larger than itself. If a State 
and a county, in a given case, should be equal in extent 
of territory, and equal in number of inhabitants — in what, 
as a matter of principle, is the State better than a 
county ? Would an exchange of names be an exchange 
of I'ights upon principle ? On what rightful principle 
may a State, being not more than one-fiftieth part of the 
nation in soil and population, break up the nation, and 
then coerce a proportionally larger subdivision of itself, 
in the most arbitrary way ? What mysterious right to 
play tyrant is conferred on a district of country, with its 
people, by merely calling it a State ? I am not asserting 
anything ; I am merely asking questions for you to con- 
sider." 



i6o SPEECH AT CINCINNATI, OHIO. 



SPEECH AT CINCINNATI, OHIO. 

I have spoken but once before this in Cincinnati, 
that was a year previous to the late Presidential election. 
On that occasion, in a playful manner, but with sincere 
words, I addressed much of what I said to the Ken- 
tuckians. We mean to treat you as near as we possibly 
can, as Washington, Jefferson, and Madison treated you. 
We mean to leave you alone, and in no way to interfere 
with your institution, and, in a word, coming back to the 
original proposition, to treat you, so far as degenerated 
men (if we have degenerated) may, according to the 
examples of those noble fathers — Washington, Jefferson, 
and Madison. We mean to remember that you are as 
good as we ; that there is no difference between us other 
than the difference of circumstances. We mean to rec- 
ognize and bear in mind always that you have as good 
hearts in your bosoms as other people, or as we claim to 
have, and treat you accordingly. 

Fellow-citizens of Kentucky ! friends ! brethren, may 
I call you in my new position ? I see no occasion, and feel 
no inclination to retract a word of this. If it shall not 
be made good, be assured the fault shall not be mine. 



O. B. FROTHINGHAM. 



i6z 



TOO much cannot be done to preserve the memory 
and deepen the moral impression of a man like 
Mr. Lincoln. So humble, simple, disinterested, imper- 
sonal, the peer of Washington. Even as idealized, the 
superior of any other statesman the country has pro- 
duced. 



Boston, 1882. 
11 




i62 TO THE OHIO SENA TE. 



TO THE OHIO STATE. 

It is true, as has been said by the President of the 
Senate, that very great responsibihty rests upon me in 
the position to which the votes of the American people 
have called me. I am deeply sensible of that weighty 
responsibility. I cannot but know, what you all know, 
that without a name, perhaps without a reason why I 
should have a name, there has fallen upon me a task such 
as did not rest upon the " Father of his Country ;" and 
so feeling, I cannot but turn, then, and look to the 
American people, and to that God who has never forsaken 
them. 



/. ^F. FORNEY. 



163 



I 



AM sure, as millions have said, that take him for all 
in all, we never shall look upon his like again. 




Philadelphia. 1880. 



i64 SFEECH AT STEUBENVILLE, OHIO. 



SPEECH AT STEUBENVILLE, OHIO. 

I fear that the great confidence placed in my ability 
is unfounded. Indeed, I am sure it is. Encompassed 
by vast difficulties as I am, nothing shall be wanting on 
my part, if sustained by the American people and God. 
I believe the devotion to the Constitution is equally great 
on both sides of the river. It is onl}-^ the different under- 
standing of that instrument that causes difficulty. The 
only dispute on both sides is " What are their rights ?" 
If the majority should not rule, who should be the 
judge ? Where is such a judge to be found ? We should 
all be bound by the majority of the American people. If 
not, then the minority must control. Would that be 
right ? Would it be just or generous ? Assuredly not. I 
reiterate that the majority should rule. If I adopt a 
wrong policy, the opportunity for condemnation will 
occur in four years' time. Then I can be turned out and 
a better man with better views put in my place. 



ROBERT C. WINTHROP, 165 

HIS early term in Congress was while I was Speaker 
of the House of Representatives. Thirty-four 
years have elapsed since that Congress assembled, but I 
recall vividly the impressions I then formed, both as to 
his ability and his amiability. We were old Whigs to- 
gether, and agreed entirely on all questions of public 
interest. I could not always concur in the policy of the 
party which made him President, but I never lost my 
personal regard for him. For shrewdness, sagacity and 
keen, practical sense, he has had no superior in our day 
and generation. His patience, perseverance, imper- 
turbable good-nature and devoted patriotism, during the 
trying times of the civil war, were of inestimable value 
to the Union cause. Meantime, the forbearing and con- 
ciliatory spirit, which he manifested so signally in the last 
months of his presidency, rendered his death — quite 
apart from the abhorrent and atrocious manner in which 
it occurred — an inexpressible shock, even to those who 
had differed from his earlier views. His life, even at the 
moment it was taken away, as I said publicly at the time, 
was the most important and precious life in our whole 
land, I heartily wish success to the memorials of a ca- 
reer associated so prominently with the greatest event of 
our age, and which must ever have so exalted a place in 
American history. 




Boston, 1881. 



i5) SPEECH AT PITTSBURGH. 



SPEECH AT PITTSBURGH. 

The condition of the country, fellow-citizens, is an 
extraordinary one and fills the mind of every patriot with 
anxiety and solicitude. My attention is to give this sub- 
ject all the consideration which I possibly can before I 
speak fully and definitely in regard to it, so that, when I 
do speak, I may be as nearly right as possible, and when 
I do speak, fellow-citizens, I hope to say nothing in oppo- 
sition to the spirit of the constitution, contrary to the 
integrity of the Union, or which will in any way prove 
inimical to the liberties of the people or to the peace of 
the whole country. And, furthermore, when the time 
arrives for me to speak on this great subject, I hope to 
say nothing which will disappoint the reasonable expecta- 
tions of any man, or disappoint the people generally 
throughout the country, especially if their expectations 
have been based upon anything which I may have here- 
tofore said. 



WILLIAM F. WARREN, 167 



" 'TPHEY who believe and clothe not their faith with injustice, 
-I- they shall enjoy security, and they are rightly directed. 
And this is our argument wherewith we furnished Abraham that he 
might make use of it against his people." — The Koran, Sura VI. 

Boston University, 1880. 



i68 SPEECH AT CLEVELAND, OHIO, 



SPEECH AT CLEVELAND, OHIO. 

It is with you, the people, to advance the great 
cause of the Union and the Constitution, and not with 
any one man. It rests with you, alone. This fact is 
strongly impressed on my mind at present. In a com- 
munity like this, whose appearance testifies to their intel- 
ligence, I am convinced that the cause of liberty and the 
Union can never be in danger. 



H. W. BELLOWS. 169 



FOR singleness and simplicity of purpose, vigor of 
intellect, and sweetness of nature; for a humor 
matched with a pathos, that won the popular sympathy 
and was most rare and wise ; for a homely, hearty 
'Americanism, that represented our new world and young 
nation ; for a profound and passionate love of his 
country ; for undeviating rectitude and an unworldliness 
which was not want of ability to lead other men, or 
any lack of skill to make his own way — Lincoln was 
the ideal of a President, when the nation most wanted 
the right man in the right place. 



Jfu0y0:/dk/, 



(Ho^ 



Brooklyn, 1880. 



I70 SPEECH AT BUFFALO, N. V. 



SPEECH AT BUFFALO, N. Y. 

I AM sure I bring a heart true to the work. For the 
ability to perform it, I must trust in that Supreme Being 
who has nev^er forsaken this favored land, through the 
instrumentality of this great and intelligent people. 
Without that assistance, I shall surely fail ; with it, I 
cannot fail. When we speak of threatened difficulties 
to the country, it is natural that it should be expected 
that something should be said by myself, with regard to 
particular measures. Upon more mature reflections, 
however — and others will aerree with me — that when it is 
considered that these difficulties are without precedent, 
and never have been acted upon by any individual, sit- 
uated as I am, it is most proper I should wait and see the 
developments, and get all the light possible, so that when 
I do speak authoritatively, I may be as near right as pos- 
sible. 



C. F. BURN AM. 171 



PRIOR to his elevation to the Presidency of' the 
United States I had never met Mr. Lincoln, 
although I was acquainted with the splendid reputation 
he had achieved in Illinois as a lawyer and statesman. 
His venerable father-in-law, Robert S. Todd, of Lex- 
ington, was one of my earliest friends, and his more 
distinguished relative, Hon. Daniel Brady, of this town, 
was my first law preceptor. From these gentlemen I 
had learned to admire his great character, and was not 
surprised, when, in i860, the nomination for the chief 
magistracy of the republic was given him by the conven- 
tion at Chicaofo over rivals so illustrious as Chase and 
Seward. 

After his election, I met Mr. Lincoln often in Wash- 
ington, and it will be always one of the pleasant memo- 
ries of my life that I had this privilege and shared 
somewhat his rerard and confidence. Great as were 
the men who constituted his cabinet — and in no admin- 
istration were ever found three greater men than Chase, 
Seward and Stanton — I always thought, and still think, 
he was greater than any of them. Calm, courageous, 
generous, just ; he was the impersonation of patriotism, 
and his labors to restore the Union by suppressing the 
rebel Confederacy, and by striking off the fetters from 
four million slaves, followed by his untimely death by the 
hand of an assassin, gave to him of all the men of this 
century the first place in the eyes of all mankind. 



172 



C. F. BURN AM. 



Nothing which can be done to perpetuate his fame, to 
keep him ever before the coming generations of his 
countrymen, should be omitted. 




Richmond, 1882. 



JOSEPH P. BRADLEY. 173 



THE greatness of his figure in our history stands so 
near and towers so high that it cannot be taken in 
at a glance in this generation. 

Washington, 1880. 



174 SPEECH AT SYRACUSE, N. Y. 



SPEECH AT SYRACUSE, N. Y. 

I see you have erected a very fine and handsome 
platform here, for me, and I presume you expect me to 
speak from it. If I should go upon it, you would imag- 
ine that I was about to deliver you a much longer speech 
than I am. I wish you to understand that I mean no 
discourtesy to you by thus dealing. I intend discourtesy 
to no one. But I wish you to understand that, though 
I am unwilling to go upon this platform, you are not at 
liberty to draw any inference concerning any other plat- 
form with which my name has been, or is, connected. I 
wish you long life and prosperity, individually, and pray 
that with the perpetuity of those institutions under 
which we have all so long lived and prospered, our hap- 
piness may be secured, our future made brilliant, and the 
glorious destiny of our country established forever. 



A. £. BURN SIDE. 175 



'' I "HE greatest man of this age. 

Ma 




Providence, 1881. 



176 SPEECH AT UTICA, N. V. 



SPEECH AT UTICA, N. Y. 

Ladies and Gentlemen — I have no speech to make 
to you, and no time to speak it I appear before you 
that I may see you, and that you may see me ; and I am 
willing to admit, that so far as the ladies are concerned, I 
have the best of the bargain; though I wish it to be 
understood that I do not make the same acknowledg- 
ment concerning the men. 



6". WELLS WILLIAMS. 177 



HEN President Lincoln was killed, I was the 
actlnor United States Minister at Peklno-, and re- 
ported the assassination to His Imperial Highness, Prince 
Kung, then at the head of the government, from whom 
a suitable reply was received on the 8th of July, 1865. 
I sent the correspondence to the Secretary of State, with 
the following remarks : " The limits of a dispatch will 
hardly allow me more than to add my tribute of admira- 
tion to the character of Mr. Lincoln. His firm and 
consistent maintenance of the national cause, his clear 
understanding of the great questions at issue, and his 
unwearied efforts, while enforcing the laws, to deprive 
the conflict of all bitterness, were all so happily blended 
with a reliance on Divine guidance, as to elevate him 
to a hlgrh rank amonsf successful statesmen. His name 
is hereafter identified with the cause of Emancipation, 
while his patriotism. Integrity, and other virtues, and his 
untimely death, render him not unworthy of mention 
with William of Orano^e and Washlngrton." 

This was written seventeen years ago, since which 
time I have learned more of the inimitable blending in 
his character of mercy and firmness, and estimate him 
higher. He was tested In every way throughout the 
long struggle, and his rare virtues will endure him to 
the American people the more they study his life. 



J HcyCCj ffcXCif^ 



Yale College, 1882. 

13 



178 SPEECH. 



SPEECH 

FROM THE STEPS OF THE CAPITOL, ALBANY, N. Y. 

I AM notified by your Governor that this reception is 
given without distinction of party. I accept it the more 
gladly, because it is so. Almost all men in this country, 
and in any country where freedom of thought is toler- 
ated, attach themselves to political parties. It is but 
ordinary charity to attribute this to the fact that in so 
attaching himself to the party which his judgment 
prefers, the citizen believes he thereby promotes the best 
interests of the whole country ; but when an election is 
past, it is altogether befitting a free people that, until the 
next election, they should be as one people. The recep- 
tion you have extended to me to-day, is not given to me 
personally. It should not be so, but as the representa- 
tive, for the time being, of the majority of the nation. 
If the election had resulted in the selection of either of 
the other candidates, the same cordiality should have 
been extended to him, as is extended to me this day, in 
testimony of the devotion of the whole people to the 
Constitution and the whole Union, and of their desire to 
perpetuate our institutions, and to hand them down in 
their perfection, to succeeding generations. 



JOHN BRIGHT. 179 



THE life of President Lincoln is written in im- 
perishable characters in the history of the great 
American Republic. 



f/f. 



London, 1880. 



Z<///- 



i8o SPEECH IN THE ASSEMBLY HALL. 



SPEECH IN THE ASSEMBLY HALL AT AL- 
BANY, N. Y. 

I DO not propose to enter into an explanation of any 
particular line of policy as to our present difficulties, to 
be adopted by the incoming Administration. I deem it 
just to you, to myself, and to all, that I should see every- 
thing, that I should hear everything, that I should have 
every light that can be brought within my reach, in order 
that when I do so speak, I shall have enjoyed every 
opportunity to take correct and true grounds ; and for 
this reason I don't propose to speak, at this time, of the 
policy of the Government. But when the time comes, I 
shall speak, as well as I am able, for the good of the 
present and future of this country — for the good both of 
the North and the South of this country — for the 
good of the one and the other ; and of all sections of 
the country. In the meantime, if we have patience, if 
we restrain ourselves, if we allow ourselves not to run off 
in a passion, I still have confidence that the Almighty, 
the Maker of the Universe, will, through the instrumen- 
tality of this great and intelligent people, bring us 
through this, as he has through all the other difficulties 
of our country. 



G. DE LA MATYR. iSi 



MORE fully than any other man, not excepting 
Washington, Abraham Lincoln embodied and 
exhibited our distinctive civilization. " From the people, 
of the people, and for the people," he inspired and di- 
rected them through the most trying ordeal that this 
government has passed, or ever can pass. 

Geologists tell us, the lower stratum of the earth's 
crust is granite, and that the highest mountains are the 
upheaval of this granite, so granite is both base and 
crown. Mr. Lincoln was lifted by the force of his un- 
rivaled genius from the mass of the people, the im- 
mutable basis, the granite of our civilization, to an ele- 
vation of solitary grandeur. Embracing all phases, 
from the humblest to the highest, his life bears all to a 
higher altitude where its influence falls in perpetual bene- 
diction. 

^^^ O^ <^^ ^^^^-^^-^^ 

. Indianapolis, 1882. 



J 82 SPEECH AT POUGHKEEPSIE. 



SPEECH AT POUGHKEEPSIE, N. Y. 

I CANNOT refrain from saying that I am highly grati- 
fied, as much here indeed, under the circumstances, as I 
have been anywhere on my route, to witness this noble 
demonstration — made, not in honor of an individual, but 
of the man who at this time humbly, but earnestly, repre- 
sents the majesty of the Nation. This reception, like all 
others that have been tendered to me, doubtless ema- 
nates from all the political parties, and not from one 
alone. As such, I accept it the more gratefully, since it 
indicates an earnest desire on the part of the whole 
people, without regard to political differences, to save 
— not the country, because the country will save itself — 
but to save the institutions of the country — those insti- 
tutions under which, in the last three quarters of a cen- 
tury, we have grown to be a great, an intelligent, and a 
happy people — the greatest, the most intelligent, and the 
happiest people in the world. These noble manifesta- 
tions indicate, with unerring certainty, that the whole 
people are willing to make common cause for this object ; 
that if, as it ever must be, some have been successful in 
the recent election, and some have been beaten — if some 
are satisfied, and some are dissatisfied — the defeated party 
are not in favor of sinking the ship, but are desirous of 
running it through the tempest in safety, and willing, if 
they think the people have committed an error in their 
verdict now. to wait in the hope of reversing it, and set- 



SPEECH AT POUGHKEEPSIE. 183 

ting it right next time. I do not say that in the recent 
election the people did the wisest thing that could have 
been done ; indeed, I do not think they did ; but I do 
say, that in accepting the great trust committed to me, 
which I do with a determination to endeavor to prove 
worthy of it, I must rely upon you, upon the people of 
the whole country, for support ; and with their sustaining 
aid, even I, humble as I am, cannot fail to carry the ship 
of state safely through the storm. 



1 84 SPEECH AT PEEK SKILL, N, Y. 



SPEECH AT PEEKSKILL, N. Y. 

I WILL say in a single sentence, in regard to the diffi- 
culties that lie before me and our beloved country, that if 
I can only be as generously and unanimously sustained, 
as the demonstrations I have witnessed indicate I shall 
be, I shall not fail ; but without your sustaining hands I 
am sure that neither I, nor any other man, can hope to 
surmount these difficulties. I trust that in the course I 
shall pursue, I shall be sustained not only by the party 
that elected me, but by the patriotic people of the whole 
country. 



JOHN BASCOM. 185 



I LOOK upon A. Lincoln as a remarkable illustra- 
tion of the important part which a sound social and 
moral character may play in a political career. While, in 
a lower sense, he opened up his own way to fortune by 
his own industry, in a higher sense, it was opened up for 
him by the moral forces at play about him. The ice-floe 
parts before the skillful sea-captain. Not by his own force 
chiefly, Lincoln threaded his narrow strip of open way, 
till at length he reached, and a great nation with him, 
the high-seas, by a shrewd intellect, and far more, by an 
honestly sympathetic heart. He was not a great man 
in intellect only, he was not a moral hero ; but he pos- 
sessed in an unusual degree, in an active, mobile form, 
humane sympathies ; and these saved him and us. Abra- 
ham Lincoln was one of those few men, at the sight of 
whom, we trust God and take courage. 

Madison, 1880. 



\Z() REPLY TO THE MAYOR OF NEW YORK. 



REPLY TO THE MAYOR OF NEW YORK. 

In my devotion to the Union I hope I am behind no 
man in the nation. As to my wisdom in conducting 
affairs so as to tend to the preservation of the Union, I 
fear too great confidence may have been placed in me. 
I am sure I bring a heart devoted to the work. There is 
nothing that could ever bring me to consent — willingly 
to consent — to the destruction of this Union, unless it 
would be that thing for which the Union itself was made. 
I understand that the ship is made for carrying and pres- 
ervation of the cargo ; and so long as the ship is safe 
with the cargo it shall not be abandoned. This Union 
shall never be abandoned, unless the possibility of its 
existence shall cease to exist, without the necessity of 
throwing passengers and cargo overboard. So long, 
then, as it is possible that the prosperity and liberties of 
the people can be preserved within the Union, it shall be 
my purpose at all times to preserve it. 



GEO. W. MINIER. 187 



MR. LINCOLN was great In goodness, as well as 
good in greatness. Like the silent potent forces 
in nature, he was most powerful in the calm. He never 
shunned storms and tempests, but never courted them. 
His love of honesty and fair dealing was one of his most 
prominent characteristics ; he never stooped to trickery. 
Let the following incident illustrate this trait in his 
character : 

In the spring term of the Tazewell County Court, in 
1847, which, at that time, was held in the village of Tre- 
mont, I was detained as witness an entire week. Lin- 
coln was employed in several suits, and among them was 
one of Case vs. Snow Bros. The Snow Bros., as 
appeared in evidence (who were both minors), had pur- 
chased from an old Mr. Chase what was then called a 
"prairie team," consisting of two or three yoke of oxen 
and prairie plow, giving therefor their joint note for some 
two hundred dollars, but when pay-day came, refused 
to pay, pleading the minor act. The note was placed in 
Lincoln's hands for collection. The suit was called, a 
jury impaneled. The Snow Bros, did not deny the 
note, but pleaded, through their counsel, that they were 
minors, and that Mr. Case knew they were, at the time 
of the contract and conveyance. All this was admitted 
by Mr. Lincoln, with his peculiar phrase, " Yes, gentle- 
men, I guess that's so." The minor act was read, and its 
validity admitted, in the same manner. The counsel of 
the Snow Bros, were permitted, without question, to 



1 88 GEO. W. MINIER. 

state all these things to the jury, and to show by the stat- 
ute that these minors could not be held responsible for 
their contract. By this time, you may well suppose that 
I began to be uneasy. " What ! " thought I, " this good 
old man, who confided in these boys, to be wronged in 
this way, and even his counsel, Mr. Lincoln, to submit in 
silence !" I looked at the court, Judge Treat, but could 
read nothing in his calm and dignified demeanor. Just 
then, Mr. Lincoln slowly got up, and in his strange, half 
erect attitude, and clear, quiet accent began, " Gentlemen 
of the jury, are you willing to allow these boys to begin 
life with this shame and disgrace attached to their charac- 
ter? If you are, / am not. The best judge of human 
character that ever wrote, has left these immortal words 
for all of us to ponder : 

" ' Good name in man or woman, dear my lord, 
Is the immediate jewel of their souls. 

Who steals my purse, steals trash ; 'tis something, nothing : 
'Twas mine, 'tis his ; and has been slave to thousands. 
But he that filches from me my good name, 
Robs me of that which not enriches him, 
And leaves me poor, indeed.'" 

Then rising to his full height, and looking upon the Snow 
Bros, with the compassion of a brother, his long right arm 
extended toward the opposing counsel, he continued : 
" Gentle7nen of the Jury, these poor. Innocent boys would 
never have attempted this low villainy, had it not been for 
the advice of these lawyers." Then, for a few minutes, 
he showed how even the noble science of law may be 
prostituted ; with a scathing rebuke to those who thus 



CEO. W. MINIER. 189 

belittle their profession, and concluded : " And now, 
gentlemen, you have it in your power to set these boys 
right before the world." He plead for the young men 
only ; I think he did not mention his client's name. The 
jury, without leaving their seats, decided that Snow Bros, 
must pay that debt ; and they, after hearing Lincoln, 
were as willing to pay it as the jury were determined 
they should. I think the entire argument lasted not 
above five minutes. 

I once heard Mr. Lincoln speak on the Tariff, and 
he illustrated it in this way ; "I confess that I have not 
any very decided views on the question. A revenue we 
must have. In order to keep house, we must have 
breakfast, dinner and supper ; and this tariff business 
seems to be necessary to bring them. But yet, there is 
something obscure about it It reminds me of the fel- 
low that came into a grocery down here in Menard 
County, at Salem, where I once lived, and called for a 
picayune's worth of crackers ; so the clerk laid them out 
on the counter. After sitting awhile, he said to the clerk, 
' I don't want these crackers, take them, and give me a 
glass of cider.' So the clerk put the crackers back into 
the box, and handed the fellow the cider. After drinking, 
he started for the door. ' Here, Bill,' called out the 
clerk, 'pay me for your cider.' 'Why,' said Bill, 'I 
gave you the crackers for it' 'Well, then, pay me for 
the crackers.' * But I haint had any ; ' responded Bill. 
' That's so,' said the clerk. ' Well, clear out ! It seems 
to me that I've lost a picayune somehow, but I can't 
make it out exactly.' " So," said Lincoln, after the 



I90 GEO. IV. MINIER. 

laugh had subsided, " it is with the tariff ; somebody gets 
the picayune, but I don't exactly understand how." 

I am oflad to assist in embalminof in the minds of his 
countrymen, the true history and eminent character of 
the greatest American President, before they are over- 
run with the weeds of fable. 




MiNiER, 1882. 



JOHN B, GO UGH A 



igi 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN, one of the grandest men 
Jl\. this country or the world has ever produced, 
pure in Hfe and motive, inflexible in his purpose to do 
right as he understood it, of undaunted courage in car- 
rying out the principles he believed to be true, large- 
hearted, and tender in his sympathy with human suffer- 



mo-- 



Bold as a lion and gentle as a child — 

He lived to bless the world. 

He broke no promise, served no private end, 
He gained no title, and he lost no friend. 



^^.^^:^^^^ 



Worcester, 1880. 



192 SPEECH TO yARIOUS ASSOCIATIONS. 



SPEECH TO VARIOUS REPUBLICAN ASSO- 
CIATIONS, NEW YORK. 

It was not intimated to me that I was brought into 
the room where Daniel Webster and Henry Clay had 
made speeches, and where, in my position, I might be 
expected to do something like those men, or do some- 
thing worthy of myself or my audience. I have been 
occupying a position since the Presidential election, of 
silence, of avoiding public speaking, of avoiding public 
writing ; I have been doing so, because I thought upon 
full consideration that was the proper course for me to 
take. I have not kept silence since the Presidential 
election from any party wantonness, or from any indiffer- 
ence to the anxiety that pervades the minds of men about 
the aspect of the political affairs of this country. I have 
kept silence for the reason that I supposed it was pecu- 
liarly proper that I should do so until the time came 
when, according to the custom of the country, I could 
speak officially. I alluded to the custom of the Presi- 
dential-elect, at the time of taking the oath of office ; 
that is what I meant by the custom of the country. I do 
suppose that, while the political drama being enacted in 
this country, at this time, is rapidly shifting its scenes — 
forbidding an anticipation, with any degree of certainty, 
to-day, what we shall se- to-morrow — it was peculiarly 
fitting that I should see it all, up to the last minute, 



SPEECH TO VARIOUS ASSOCIATIONS. 193 

before I should take ground that I might be disposed 
(by the shifting of the scenes afterwards) also to shift. I 
have said several times, upon this journey, and I now 
repeat it to you, that when the time does come I shall 
then take the ground that I think is right, right for the 
North, for the South, for the East, for the West, for the 
whole country. And in doing so, I hope to feel no 
necessity pressing upon me to say anything in conflict 
with the Constitution ; in conflict with the continued 
Union of these States, in conflict with the perpetuation 
of the liberties of this people, or anything in conflict with 
anything whatever that I have ever given you reason to 
expect from me. 

13 



'^: 



194 SPEECH AT NEWARK, N. /. 



SPEECH AT NEWARK, NEW JERSEY. 

I AM sure, however, that I have not the ability to 
do anything unaided of God, and that without his sup- 
port, and that of this free, happy, prosperous, and intelli- 
gent people, no man can succeed in doing that the im- 
portance of which we all comprehend. 



C. M. CLAY. 195 



LINCOLN was the truest friend I ever had and 
-/ therefore my estimate of his character must be 
taken "cum erano saUs." He was the most conscien- 
tious man I ever knew, and ranks with Washington in 
genius, pubHc service, and patriotism. They will go 
down to posterity in equal love, admiration, and grati- 
tude. After this I need not say that he was the man of 
his times : and such is the verdict of his contemporaries. 



White Hall, 1880. 




196 SPEECH IN THE SENATE CHAMBER. 



SPEECH IN THE SENATE CHAMBER. 

TRENTON, NEW JERSEY. 

May I be pardoned if, upon this occasion, I mention 
that away back in my childhood, the earliest days of 
my being able to read, I got hold of a small book, 
such a one as few of the younger members have seen, 
" Weem's Life of Washinorton." I remember all the 
accounts there given of the battle-fields and struggles 
for liberties of the country, and none fixed themselves 
upon my imagination so deeply as the struggle here at 
Trenton, New Jersey. The crossing of the river, the 
contest with the Hessians ; the great hardships endured 
at that time, all fixed themselves on my memory, more 
than any single revolutionary event ; and you all know, 
for you have all been boys, how these early impressions 
last longer than any others. I recollect thinking then, boy 
even though I was, that there must have been some- 
thing more than common that these men struggled for. 
I am exceedingly anxious that that thing which they 
struggled for ; that something even more than National 
Independence ; that something that held out a great 
promise to all the people of the world to all time to come 
— I am exceedingly anxious that this Union, the Consti- 
tution, and the liberties of the people shall be perpetu- 
ated in accordance with the original idea for which that 
struggle was made, and I shall be most happy indeed if 






SFEE^:/! IN THE SENATE CHAMBER. 197 

I shall be an humble instrument in the hands of the 
Almighty and of this, his most chosen people, as the 
chosen instrument — also in the hands of the Almighty — 
for perpet^iating the object of that great struggle. 



198 SPEECH AT TRENTON, N. /. 



SPEECH AT TRENTON, NEW JERSEY. 

DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY. 

I SHALL endeavor to take the around I deem most 
just to the North, the East, the West, the South, and 
the whole country. I take it, I hope, in good temper, 
certainly with no malice towards any section. I shall do 
all that ma)'" be in my power to promote a peaceful settle- 
ment of all our difficulties. The man does not live who 
is more devoted to peace than I am, none who would 
do more to preserve it, but it may be necessary to put 
the foot down firmly. And if I do my duty and do 
right you will sustain me, will you not ? Received, as 
I am, by the members of a Legislature, the majority of 
whom do not agree with me in political sentiments, I 
trust that I may have their assistance in piloting the 
ship of State through this voyage, surrounded by perils 
as it is, for if it should suffer wreck now, there will be 
no pilot ever needed for another voyage. 



SCHUYLER COLFAX. 199 



HIS freedom from passion and bitterness — in his 
acute sense of justice— in his courageous faith in 
the right, and his inextinguishable hatred of wrong — in 
warm and heartfelt sympathy and mercy, in his coolness 
of judgment, in his unquestioned rectitude of intention — 
— in a word, in his ability to lift himself for his country's 
sake above all mere partizanship, in all the marked traits 
of his character combined, he has had no parallel since 
Washington, and, while our republic endures he will 
live with him in the Qrrateful hearts of his grrateful 
countrymen. 



South Bend, 1880. 




200 ADDRESS TO THE MAYOR AND CITIZENS 



ADDRESS TO THE MAYOR AND CITIZENS 
OF PHILADELPHIA- 

I DEEM it a happy circumstance that this dissatisfied 
position of our fellow-citizens does not point us to any- 
thing in which they are being injured, or about to be 
injured ; for which reason I have felt all the while jus- 
tified in concluding that the crisis, the panic, the anxiety 
of the country at this time, is artificial. If there be 
those who differ with me upon this subject, they have 
not pointed out the substantial dif^culty that exists. I 
do not mean to say that an artificial panic may not do 
considerable harm ; that it has done such I do not 
deny. I promise you, in all sincerity, that I bring to 
the work a sincere heart. Whether I will brine a head 
equal to that heart will be for future times to deter- 
mine. It were useless for me to speak of details of 
plans now ; I shall speak officially next Monday week, if 
ever. If I should not speak then, it were useless for me 
to do so now. If I do speak then it is useless for me to 
do so now. When I do speak, I shall take such ground 
as I deem best calculated to restore peace, harmony, 
and prosperity to the country, and tend to the 
perpetuity of the nation and the liberty of these 
States and these people. Your worthy Mayor has ex- 
pressed the wish, in which I join with him, that it 
were convenient for me to remain in your city long 
enough to consult your merchants and manufacturers ; or, 



ADDRESS TO THE MAYOR AND CITIZENS, coi 

as it were, to listen to those breathings rising within the 
consecrated walls wherein the Constitution of the United 
States, and I will add, the Declaration of Independence, 
were originally framed and adopted. I assure you and 
your Mayor that I had hoped, on this occasion, and upon 
all occasions during my life, that I shall do nothing in- 
consistent with the teachings of these holy and most 
sacred walls. I never asked anything that does not 
breathe from these sacred walls. All my political warfare 
has been in favor of the teachings that came forth from 
these sacred walls. May my right hand forget its cun- 
ning, and my tongue cleave to the roof my mouth, if ever 
I prove false to those teachings. 



SPEECH IN INDEPENDENCE HAIL. 



SPEECH IN INDEPENDENCE HALL 

AT PHILADELPHIA. 

I HAVE never had a feeling, politically, that did not 
spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration 
of Independence. I have often pondered over the 
dangers which were incurred by the men who assembled 
here and framed and adopted that Declaration. I have 
pondered over the toils that were endured by the officers 
and soldiers of the army who achieved that independ- 
ence. I have often inquired of myself what great prin- 
ciple or idea it was that kept this Confederacy so long 
together. It was net the mere matter of the separation 
of the colonies from the mother-land, but that sentiment 
in the Declaration of Independence which gave liberty 
not alone to the people of this country, but I hope to the 
world for all future time. It was that which gave 
promise that, in due time, the weight would be lifted 
from the shoulders of all men. This is the sentiment 
embodied in the Declaration of Independence. Now, 
my friends, can this country be saved on that basis? If it 
can, I shall consider myself one of the happiest men in 
the world if I can help to save it. If it cannot be saved 
upon that principle it will be truly awful. But if this 
country cannot be saved without giving up that principle, 
I was about to say / would rather be assassinated on this 
spot than surrender it. 



ROBERT COLLYER. 20,3 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S greatness and worth lay 
L in his simple manhood. So that the excuse we 
offer for the faults and failings of some ereat men, 
" They were only human," was the very crown of his ex- 
cellence. He was a whole man, human to the core of 
his heart. 



^aJ\M^ ^-cMpUx 



New York, 1880. 



204 SPEECH BEFORE INDEPENDENCE HALL. 



SPEECH 

BEFORE INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA, FEB., 1 86 1 
WHILE HOISTING A NEW FLAG. 

Each additional star added to that flag has given 
additional prosperity and happiness to this country, until 
it has advanced to its present condition ; and its welfare 
in the future, as well as in the past, is in your hands. 
Cultivating the spirit that animated our fathers, who 
gave renown and celebrity to this hall ; cherishing that 
fraternal feeling which has so long characterized us as a 
nation ; excluding passion, ill-temper, and precipitate 
action on all occasions, I think we may promise our- 
selves that additional stars shall from time to time be 
placed upon that flag, until we shall number, as was 
anticipated by the great historian, five hundred millions 
of happy and prosperous people. 



ROSCOE CONKLING. 205 



IT would be difficult, in many words, and perhaps not 
more difficult in a few, to state my estimate of the 
" Life and Services of Abraham Lincoln." It was a hard 
life, a busy life, an American life, and a great life ; and it 
rendered services to the country which can hardly be 
over-estimated, and which it has been the fortune of, 
perhaps, only two other men to equal. 




Utica, 1880. 



2o6 SPEECH AT LANCASTER. 



■ SPEECH AT LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA. 

I APPEAR not to make a speech. I have not time to 
make a speech at length, and not strength to make them 
on every occasion ; and worse than all, I have none to 
make. There is plenty of matter to speak about in these 
times, but it is well known that the more a man speaks 
the less he is understood — the more he says one thing, 
the more his adversaries contend he meant something 
else. I shall soon have occasion to speak officially, and 
then I will endeavor to put my thoughts just as plain as 
I can express myself — true to the Constitution and 
Union of all the States, and to the perpetual liberty of 
all the people. 



S. J. KJRKWOOD. 



207 



IT is not probable that the memory of Abraham Lin- 
coln will perish from the earth, so long as " a gov- 
ernment of the people, by the people, and for the people" 
shall stand. Nevertheless, I believe that anything which 
tends to bring the honest, true life of so grand a man 
nearer to the thoughts and hearts of each generation, is a 
worthy work. 




i-'l-O-Ty-l/— x/*"^ 



Iowa City, iI 



2oS SPEECH BEFORE THE LEGISLATURE. 



SPEECH 

BEFORE THE LEGISLATURE OF PENNSYLVANIA AT HARRIS- 
BURG, FEBRUARY 22, 1861. 

I HAVE already gone through one exceedingly inter- 
esting scene this morning, in the ceremonies at Philadel- 
phia. Under the high conduct of gentlemen there, I 
was for the first time allowed the privilege of standing 
in old Independence Hall, to have a few words addressed 
to me there, and opening up to me an opportunity of ex- 
pressing, with much regret, that I had not more time to 
express something of my own feelings, excited by the 
occasion, somewhat to harmonize and give shape to the 
feelings that had been really the feelings of my whole 
life. Besides this, our friends there had provided a mag- 
nificent flag of our country ; they had arranged so that 
I was eiven the honor of arisinof it to the head of its 
staff. And, when it went up, I was pleased that it went 
to its place by the strength of my own feeble arm, when, 
according to the arrangement, the cord was pulled, and 
it floated gloriously to the wind, without an accident, in the 
light, glowing sunshine of the morning. I could not help 
hoping that there was, in the entire success of that beau- 
tiful ceremony, at least something of an omen of what is 
to come. How could I help feeling, then, as I often 
have felt ? In the whole of that proceeding, I was a very 
humble instrument. I had not provided the flag. I had 



SPEECH BEFORE THE LEGISLATURE. 209 

not made the arranofements for elevatinof it to its 
place ; I had applied but a very small portion of my 
feeble strength in raising it. In the whole transac- 
tion, I was in the hands of the people who had 
arranged it, and, if I can have the same generous co- 
operation of the people of the nation, I think the flag of 
our country may yet be kept flaunting gloriously. It is 
not with any pleasure that I contemplate the possibility 
that a necessity may arise in this country for the use of 
the military arm. While I am exceedingly gratified to 
see the manifestation, upon your streets, of your mili- 
tary force here, and exceedingly gratified at your promise 
here, to use that force upon a proper emergency — while 
I make these acknowledgments, I desire to repeat, in 
order to preclude any possible misconstruction, that I do 
most sincerely hope that we shall have no use for them ; 
that it will never become their duty to shed blood, and 
most especially, never to shed fraternal blood. I promise 
that, so far as I may have wisdom to direct, if so painful 
a result shall in any wise be brought about, it shall be 
throuorh no fault of mine. 

14 



SPEECH TO THE MAYOR. 



SPEECH 

to the mayor and common council of washington. 

Mr. Mayor: 

I thank you, and through you the municipal authori- 
ties of this city who accompany you, for this welcome. 
And as it is the first time in my life, since the present 
phase in politics has presented itself in this country, that 
I have said anything publicly within a region of country 
where the institution of slavery exists, I will take this 
occasion to say, that I think very much of the ill-feeling 
that has existed and still exists between the people in the 
sections from which I came and the people here, is 
dependent upon a misunderstanding of one another. I 
therefore avail myself of this opportunity to assure you^ 
Mr. Mayor, and all the gentlemen present, that I have 
not now, and never have had, any other than as kindly 
feelings towards you as the people of my own section. I 
have not now, and never have had, any disposition to 
treat you in any respect otherwise than as my own 
neighbors. I have not now any purpose to withhold 
from you any of the benefits of the Constitution, under 
any circumstances, that I would not feel myself con- 
strained to withhold from my own neighbors, and I hope, 
in a word, that when we shall become better acquainted 
— and I say it with great confidence — we shall like each 
other the more. 

I have reached this city of Washington under cir- 



SPEECH TO THE MAYOR. 211 

cumstances considerably differing from those under 
which any other man has ever reached it. I hope that, 
if things shall go along as prosperously as I believe we 
all desire they may, I may have it in my power to remove 
something of this misunderstanding ; that I may be 
enabled to convince you, and the people of your section 
of the country, that we regard you as In all things our 
equals, and in all things entitled to the same respect and 
the same treatment that we claim for ourselves ; that we 
are in no wise disposed, If it were in our power, to 
oppress you, to deprive you of any of your rights under 
the Constitution of the United States, or even narrowlv 
to split hairs with you In regard to these rights, but are 
determined to give you, as far as lies in our hands, all 
your rights under the Constitution — not grudgingly, but 
fully and fairly. I hope that, by thus dealing with you, 
we will become better acquainted, and be better friends. 



2 1 2 FROCLAMA TION. 



PROCLAMATION, 

APRIL 15, 1861. 

Now, Therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of 
the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested 
by the Constitution and the laws, have thought fit to call 
forth, and hereby do call forth, the militia of the several 
States of the Union to the aggregate number of 75,000, 
in order to suppress said combination and to cause the 
laws to be duly executed. The details for this object 
will be immediately communicated to the State authori- 
ties through the War Department. 

I appeal to the loyal citizens to favor, facilitate and 
aid this effort to, maintain the honor, the integrity, and 
the existence of our National Union, and the perpetuity 
of popular government, and to redress wrongs already 
lonof enoucrh endured. 

I deem it proper to say that the first service assigned 
to the force hereby called forth, will probably be to re- 
possess the forts, places and property which have been 
seized from the Union, and in every event the utmost 
care will be observed, consistent with the objects afore- 
said, to avoid any devastation, any destruction of, or in- 
terference with property, or any disturbance of peaceful 
citizens in any part of the country ; and I hereby com- 
mand the persons composing the combination aforesaid, 
to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective 
abodes within twenty days from this date. 



WILLIAM WALKER. 213 



Y personal recollection of Mr. Lincoln, and what 
I have seen of him, in and about Springfield, dates 
from about the year 1842, and was almost continuous 
until he left for Washington, in February, 1861 ; and, of 
course, I can say of, or concerning him, nothing but what 
might be said by hundreds of others who knew him as 
well, and much better, than I did. There was one trait 
in Mr. Lincoln's character that I can never forget; that 
was his great kindness and generous sympathy for the 
young men, who were struggling night and day, to reach a 
place at the bar, as lawyers, I well remember his coming 
in the office of Col. Baker, where I studied and read law, 
almost every afternoon ; and with his cheerful face, and 
hearty greeting, to myself and other students, " How are 
you this afternoon, boys ?" seat himself, and take up some 
text-book, that some of us were reading, and give us a 
close and rigid examination, laughing heartily at our an- 
swers, at times ; and always made the hour he spent with 
us interesting and instructive ; occasionally relating, to 
the great amusement of all present, an anecdote ; and, 
after the hour so spent, he could go to a back yard, used 
by the students, and join them in a game of ball, with as 
much zest as any of us. But, when his watch told him 
the hour was out, he would at once quit the game, and 
bid us good-evening. Many years after, years that the 
writer had spent in the active practice of law, I met Mr. 
Lincoln, and was associated with him in about the last 
case he had any connection with. This, I think, was in 



214 WILLIAM WALKER. 

the year 1859, "^^^ after his name had become a house- 
hold word in all the land — after he had won imperishable 
renown as a political debater, with Senator Douglas ; and 
while his great mind was full of the momentous ques- 
tions then agitating the public mind — he could not, and 
did not, forget an old widow lady who had been, long 
years before, kind to him, while he was struggling, alone 
and unaided, in a new country, for the means to enable 
him to qualify himself for the high position afterward 
called upon, by his countrymen, to fill. This old widow 
lady, named Armstrong, known by almost every one in 
Menard Co. as Aunt Hannah, had a son — a wild boy of 
about twenty years of age — who, with others, became in- 
volved in a difficulty at a camp meeting, held in Mason 
Co., near Salt Creek, resultino- in the killinof of a man 
named Metzker. Young Armstrong, and another young 
man, were indicted for murder in the first defrree. Aunt 
Hannah, young Armstrong's mother, employed the 
writer, and a lawyer named Dillworth, to defend her son. 
We obtained an order of court, allowing separate trials, 
and took a change of venue, on the part of Armstrong, 
to Cass Co., Illinois, in the spring of '59. Upon the 
writer reaching Beardstown, and while in consultation 
with my associate, at the hotel, Mr. Lincoln was an- 
nounced. Upon entering, he gave us the gratifying 
information that he would, at the request of Aunt Han- 
nah, assist us in the case of her son. This was agree- 
able news to us. We furnished Mr. Lincoln such facts 
as had come to our knowledge ; he walked across the 
room two or three times, was again seated, and asked us 
for our line of defense, and the kind of jury we thought 



WILLIAM WALKER. 215 

of taking. We were in favor of young men. He asked 
our reasons. We replied, the defendant being a young 
man, we thought the sympathies of young men could be 
more easily aroused in his behalf, Mr. Lincoln differed 
with us, and requested the privilege of making the chal- 
lenges, which we accorded to him, and to me. The most 
remarkable-looking twelve men were sworn, that I had 
ever seen in a jury-box. All were past middle life, and 
the more strict the men were in enforcing obedience to 
the law, and the good order of society, the better pleased 
Mr. Lincoln was with them. The trial progressed, evi- 
dence heard and instructions given, and the State was 
heard from through its attorney. Mr. Lincoln made the 
closing argument for the defense. A grander, or a more 
powerful and eloquent speech, never, in my opinion, fell 
from the lips of man ; and when he closed, there was not 
a dry eye in the court-room. The young man was 
acquitted, for which Mr. Lincoln v/ould not receive a 
cent. I have made this mention of some of my recol- 
lections of Mr. Lincoln, longer, perhaps, than I ought — • 
but I could not well avoid it — for, taking him all in all, I 
think him one of the grreatest men America has ever 
produced. 



"^^"//y^/zA 



Lexington, 1882. 



2i6 REPLY TO GOVERNOR HICKS. 



REPLY 

TO GOVERNOR HICKS AND MAYOR BROWN. 

For the future, troops, troops must be brought here, 
but I make no point of bringing them through Baltimore. 
Without any mihtary knowledge myself, of course I 
must leave details to General Scott. He hastily said 
this morning, in the presence of these gentlemen, 
" March them around Baltimore and not through it." 
I sincerely hope the General, on fuller reflection, will 
consider this practical and proper, and that you will not 
object to it. By this, a collision of the people of Balti- 
more with the troops will be avoided, unless they go out 
of their way to seek it. I hope you will exert your in- 
fluence to prevent this. Now and ever I shall do all in 
my power for peace, consistently with the maintenance of 
the government. 

April 20, 1861. 



LEONARD W, VOLK, 217 



THE public services of Mr, Lincoln are well known 
to the world. But there is much of the man, 
the inner man and his real characteristics — familiar 
only to his neighbors and intimate friends, as they knew 
him, before he was so suddenly called to the Presidency 
of the United States, from a country village, where, 
and near which most of his life had been spent, to assume 
the " cares of state," and carry, Atlas-like, the destinies 
of the Western Continent upon his brawny and hercu- 
lean shoulders. The world at large will never know as 
do those livinQ- neifjhbors and friends the real greatness 
of the man. Personally, I had but little intimate 
acquaintance with Mr. Lincoln, compared to what many 
others had, and what I observed of his character was 
mainly while sitting to me, prior to his nomination in 
i860, for the clay model of his bust. But he impressed 
me, before I ever spoke with him, with a feeling akin to 
reverence — a feeling of affection. He was just the man 
to strike with favor every person who knew toil and pri- 
vation — and what could be more natural ? for he himself 
had been a toiler at every drudgery, and experienced the 
severest privations from earliest boyhood to mature man- 
hood. Its effect was plainly visible in his figure, in the 
form of the bones, muscle and sinew, in his motion and 
in his speech. He was tx. plebeian in the truest sense, and 
his prototype cannot be found among the great men of 
ancient or modern times. He has been compared with 
King Servius Tullius, but might with more propriety be 



2x8 LEONARD W. VOLK. 

compared with the Czar Alexander II. of Russia, who by 
his own personal will freed so many millions of serfs, in 
opposition to the wishes of his nobles ; while the former 
freed no slaves, but granted some elective privileges to 
the plebeian claims, subject always to the approval of the 
patrician senators, and built a five-mile wall around 
Rome. But neither of these despots (one a King and 
the other an Emperor) possessed the characteristics of 
Abraham Lincoln. The fact that all three were assas- 
sinated does not signify much in making them resem- 
blances of each other. In studying the marble and 
bronze portraits of the rulers and great men of ancient 
medieval and modern times, the writer has found none 
possessing any decided resemblance to Mr. Lincoln, 
whose features are distinctly in contrast with European 
types and may properly be designated as purely Amer- 
ican, Our own brief history gives us the names of five 
distinctly remarkable men who were Presidents of the 
United States, greater than all others, more remarkable 
because they carved out and achieved their own immor- 
tality, and none but one of these five referred to was a 
college graduate, and he, by his own indomitable will, 
perseverance and industry, through extreme poverty, 
alone obtained a collecriate education. None of these 
five men were sons of presidents, nor did they possess 
wealthy and distinguished relatives (except, perhaps, the 
first) to advance and place them in high stations. No ! 
they all earned their honors and promotion from stage to 
stage, from young boyhood, in the rough, rugged school 
of experience, toil and hardship, which ripened and fitted 
them for every station to which they were successively 



LEONARD W. FOLK. 219 

advanced up to the highest and proudest positions in the 
land. Nature had endowed these favorite sons with a 
wealth of ideas, a wealth of self-reliance, industry, hon- 
esty, patience and patriotism, far greater and more valu- 
able than inherited riches, titles, or class privileges. 
Imagine Abraham Lincoln, as a sturdy youth in the 
depths of the primeval forests of the west, alone with his 
axe, felling the giant trees, lopping off the limbs, dividing 
the trunks in regular lengths, then, with beetle and 
wedges splitting them into rails, now and then wearily 
sitting on a stump or log, or lying on the ground to rest 
himself, and snatching a few moments to study a book, 
or perhaps contemplating the solitude of the forest, while 
watchinof the birds and listeninof to their wild sones. 
Then, in the grand moon-lit night, while floating silently 
down the mighty Mississippi on his flat-boat, he doubt- 
less thought, planned and dreamed of his ambitious 
desire to rise in the world and get above his present 
lowly condition. Noble and ambitious resolves were 
weaving in his young brain. He, like the others of the 
immortal five, believed in himself to be able to grapple 
with the difficulties of life and take the responsibilities 
thrust upon him by the people. It was fortunate for the 
fame of these men that events of sufficient magnitude 
occurred, affording the opportunities to prove to the 
world their real fitness, talent and greatness, to be 
imperishably engraved upon history's tablets among the 
immortal men of all ages. If the ambitious young men 
of the present and future generations will earnestly study 
and imitate these sublime characters, relying as they did 
upon their own honest, patient toil and privation of lux- 



2 20 LEONARD W. VOLK. 

uries, instead of leaning upon others or watching chances 
to be placed high by those temporarily in power — to sud- 
denly' tumble from unearned stations — some of them 
may reap the reward and honors of Washington, Jack- 
son, Lincoln, Grant and Garfield. 




Chicago, 1882. 




GEORGE STONEMAN, 221 



THERE is and can be but one opinion regarding 
the life and work performed by that great man 
Lincoln. He did more to perpetuate the existence of 
free institutions and a republican form of government 
than any man that has ever lived, and the debt mankind 
owes his memory can never be repaid. 

He had but one fault. He was too sympathetic and 
tender-hearted. I well recollect one nio-ht about two 
o'clock A. M. in the early days of the war, that I was with 
him in the telegraph office at General McClellan's head- 
quarters. He arose from his chair to leave, straightened 
himself up and remarked, " To-morrow night I shall have 
a terrible headache." When asked the cause he replied, 
" To-morrow is hangman's day and I shall have to act 
upon death sentences," and I shall never forget the sad 
and sorrowful expression that came over his face. It is 
well known that Congress relieved him from the consid- 
eration of death sentences for desertion and other capital 
offenses, and conferred it upon army commanders. 




San Gabriel, 1881. 



MESSAGE TO CONGRESS. 



MESSAGE TO CONGRESS 

ASSEMBLED IN EXTRA SESSION, JULY 4, 1 86 1. 

I AM most happy to believe that the plain people un- 
derstand and appreciate this. It is worthy of note that 
while in this, the Government's hour of trial, large num- 
bers of those in the army and navy who have been 
favored with the offices, have resigned and proved false 
to the hand which pampered them, not one common 
soldier or common sailor is known to have deserted his 
flae. Great honor is due to those officers who have re- 
mained true despite the example of their treacherous 
associates, but the greatest honor and most important 
fact of all, is the unanimous firmness of the common 
soldiers and common sailors. To the last man, so far as 
known, they have successfully resisted the traitorous 
efforts of those whose commands but an hour before they 
obeyed as absolute law. This is the patriotic instinct of 
plain people. They understand without an argument 
that the destroying the Government which was made 
by Washington means no good to them. Our popular 
Government has often been called an experiment. Two 
points in it our people have settled : the successful estab- 
lishinor and the successful administerinsf of it. One still 
remains : its successful maintenance against a formidable 
internal attempt to overthrow it. It is now for them to 
demonstrate to the world that those who can fairly 
carry an election, can also suppress a rebellion ; that 



MESSAGE TO COiWGRESS. 223 

ballots are the rightful and peaceful successors 
of bullets, and that when ballots have fairly and 
constitutionally decided, there can be no successful 
appeal back to bullets ; that there can be no successful 
appeal except to ballots themselves at succeeding elec- 
tions. Such will be a great lesson of peace, teaching 
men that what they cannot take by an election, neither 
can they take by a war, teaching all the folly of being 
the beoinners of a war. 

As a private citizen the Executive could not have 
consented that these institutions shall perish, much less 
could he, in betrayal of so vast and so sacred a trust as 
these free people had confided to him. He felt that he 
had no moral right to shrink, nor even to count the 
chances of his own life in what might follow. 

In full viev/ of his great responsibility, he has so far 
done what he has deemed his duty. You will now, ac- 
cording to your own judgment, perform yours. He sin- 
cerely hopes that your views and your actions may so 
accord with his as to assure all faithful citizens who have 
been disturbed in their rights, of a certain and speedy 
restoration to them, under the Constitution and laws, 
and having thus chosen our cause without guile, and with 
pure purpose, let us renew our trust in God, and go for- 
ward without fear and with manly hearts. 



224 PERSONAL CONFERENCE. 



PERSONAL CONFERENCE 

WITH THE REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE BORDER STATES, 

JULY 12, 1861. 



i 



After the adjournment of Congress, now near, 1 
shall have no opportunity of seeing you for several 
months. ' Believing that you of the Border States hold 
more power for good than any other equal number of 
members, I feel it a duty which I cannot justifiably 
waive to make this appeal to you. I intend no reproach 
or complaint when I assure you that, in my opinion, if 
you all had voted for the resolution in the gradual 
emancipation message of last March, the war would now 
be substantially ended. And the plan therein proposed 
is yet one of the most potent and swift means of ending { 
it. Let the states which are in rebellion see definitely 
and certainly that in no event will the states you repre- 
sent ever join their proposed Confederacy, and they can- 
not much longer maintain the contest. But you cannot 
divest them of their hope to ultimately have you with 
them so long as you show a determination to perpetuate 
the institution within your own states. 

If the war continues long, as it must if the object be 
not sooner attained, the institution in your states will be 
extinguished by mere friction and abrasion — by the mere 
incidents of the war. It will be gone, and you will have 
nothing valuable in lieu of it. Much of its value is gone 
already. How much better for you and for your people 



1 PERSONAL CONFERENCE. 225 

to take the step which at once shortens the war, and 
secures substantial compensation for that which is sure 
to be wholly lost in any other event ! How much better 
to thus save the money which else we sink forever in the 
war! How much better to do it while we can, lest the 
war, ere long, render us pecuniarily unable to do it ! 
How much better for you as sellers, and the nation as 
buyer, to sell out and buy out that without which the 
war could never have been, than to sink both the thing to 
be sold and the price of it, in cutting one another's 
throats ? I do not speak of emancipation at once, but of 
a decision at once to emancipate gradually. 

Upon these considerations, I have again begged your 
attention to the message of March last. Before leaving 
the Capitol, consider and discuss it among yourselves. 
You are patriots and statesmen, and as such, I pray you 
to consider this proposition, and, at the least, commend 
it to the consideration of your states and people. As 
you would perpetuate popular government for the best 
people in the world, I beseech you that you do in no 
wise omit this. Our common country is in great peril, 
demanding the loftiest views and boldest action to bring 
a speedy relief. Once relieved, its form of government is 
saved to the world ; its beloved history and cherished 
memories are vindicated, and Its happy future fully as- 
sured and rendered inconceivably grand. To you, more 
than to any others, the privilege is given to assure that 
happiness, and swell that grandeur, and to link your own 
names therewith forever. 

15 



226 REPLY TO HORACE GREELY. 



REPLY TO HORACE GREELEY. 

My paramount object is to save the Union, and neither 
to save or destroy slavery. 

If there be those who would not save the Union un- 
less they could at the same time save slavery, I do not 
asfree with them. If there be those who would not save 
the Union unless they could at the sam^ time destroy 
slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object 
is to save the Union, and not either to save or destroy 
slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any 
slave, I would do it. If I could save it by freeing all the 
slaves I would do it ; and if I could do it by freeing some 
and leaving others alone, I would also do that. What I 
do about slavery and the colored race I do because I be- 
lieve it helps to save the Union, and what I forbear, I 
forbear because I do not believe it helps to save the 
Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe that 
what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more 
whenever I believe doing more will help the cause. 



R. J. OGLESBY. 227 



THERE is but one opinion of the character of 
Abraham Lincoln, throughout the world. No 
living man can add anything to his fame. It will be 
polished by the wear of time, to a luster which will 
eclipse the glory of all men, not born as he was, to the 
boon of immortality. 



Decatur, 1880. 




2 28 REPLY TO A RELIGIOUS DELEGATION. 



REPLY TO A RELIGIOUS DELEGATION 

WHO PRESENTED A MEMORIAL REQUESTING MR. LINCOLN 
TO ISSUE A PROCLAMATION OF UNIVERSAL 
EMANCIPATION. 

I AM approached with the most opposite opinions 
and advice, and that by religious men, who are equally 
certain that they represent the divine will. I am sure 
that either the one or the other class is mistaken in that 
belief, and perhaps in some respects, both. I hope it will 
not be irreverent for me to say that if it is probable that 
•God would reveal his will to others, on a point so con- 
nected with my duty, it might be supposed he would re- 
veal it directly to me ; for, unless I am more deceived in 
myself than I often am, it is my earnest desire to know 
the will of Providence in this matter, and if I can 
learn what it is I will do it ! These are not, however, 
the days of miracles, and I suppose it will be granted 
that I am not to expect a direct revelation. I must 
study the plain physical facts of the case, ascertain what 
is possible and learn what appears to be wise and right. 

The subject is difficult, and good men do not agree. 
For instance, the other day four gentlemen of standing 
.and intelligence from New York, called as a delegation on 
business connected with the war ; but before leaving two 
■of them earnestly besought me to proclaim general 
■emancipation, upon which the other two at once attacked 
them. I can assure you that the subject i<? on my mind, 
■by day and night, more than any other. Whatever shall 
■appear to be God's will I will do. 



CYRUS NORTH RQF. 



229 



HIS wisdom, his accurate perceptions, his vigor of 
intellect, his humor and his unselfish patriotism 
are known to all. But what impressed me even more 
than these was the sweetness of his whole nature — his 
great loving heart. It was this, glorifying his other great 
qualities, that so endeared him to the people and caused 
his death to be mourned with such an unequaled depth 
of sorrow and abundance of tears. No man can take his 
place in the hearts of the American people. 





Yale College, 1882. 



2SO INAUGURAL ADDRESS, 



INAUGURAL ADDRESS, 

DELIVERED ON THE FOURTH DAY OF MARCH, 1 86 1. 

Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the 
Southern States that by the accession of a Republican 
administration their property and their peace and per- 
sonal security are to be endangered. There has never 
been any reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed, 
the most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while 
existed and been open to their inspection. It is found 
in nearly all the published speeches of him who now 
addresses you. I do but quote from one of those 
speeches when I declare, that " I have no purpose, 
directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of 
slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no 
lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so." 
Those who nominated and elected me did so with 
full knowledge that I had made this and many similar 
declarations, and had never recanted them. 

Before entering upon so grave a matter as the 
destruction of our national fabric, with all its benefits, its 
memories and its hopes, would it not be wise to ascertain 
precisely why we do it ? Will you hazard so desperate a 
step while there is any possibility that any portion of the 
ills you fly from have no real existence ? Will you, while 
the certain ills you fly to are greater than all the real ones 
you fly from — will you risk the commission of so fearful 
a mistake ? 



INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 231 

Physically speaking, we cannot separate. We cannot 
remove our respective sections from each other, nor build 
an impassable wall between them. A husband and wife 
may be divorced, and go out of the presence and beyond 
the reach of each other, but the different parts of our 
country cannot do this. They cannot but remain face to 
face ; and intercourse, either amicable or hostile, must 
continue between them. Is it impossible, then, to make 
that intercourse more advantageous or more satisfactory 
after separation than before ? Can aliens make treaties 
easier than friends can make laws ? Can treaties be more 
faithfully enforced between aliens than laws can among 
friends ? Suppose you go to war, you cannot fight always ; 
and when, after much loss on both sides, and no gain on 
either, you cease fighting, the identical old questions, as 
to terms of intercourse, are again upon you. 

The Chief Magistrate derives all his authority from 
the people, and they have conferred none upon him to 
fix terms for the separation of the States. The people 
themselves can do this also if they choose ; but the Exec- 
utive, as such, has nothing to do with it. His duty is 
to administer the present government as it came to his 
hands, and to transmit it, unimpaired by him, to his suc- 
cessor. 

Why should there not be a patient confidence in the 
ultimate justice of the people ? Is there any better or 
equal hope in the world ? In our present differences, is 
either party without faith of being in the right ? If the 
Almighty Ruler of nations, with his eternal truth and 
justice, be on your side of the North, or yours of the 



232 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 

South, that truth and that justice will surely prevail, by the 
judgment of this great tribunal of the American people. 

By the form of the government under which we live, 
ithe same people have wisely given their public servants 
but little power for mischief ; and have, with equal wisdom, 
provided for the return of that little to their own hands 
at very short intervals. While the people retain their 
virtue and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme 
of wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the gov- 
ernment in the short space of four years. 

My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well 
upon this whole subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by 
taking time. If there be an object to hurry any of you in 
hot haste to a step which you would never take deliber- 
ately, that object will be frustrated by taking time ; but 
no good can be frustrated by it. Such of you as are now 
dissatisfied still have the old Constitution unimpaired, 
and, on the sensitive point, the laws of your own 
framing under it ; while the new administration will have 
no immediate power, if it would, to change either. If it were 
admitted that you who are dissatisfied hold the right side 
in the dispute, there still is no single good reason for pre- 
cipitate action. Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and 
a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this 
favored land, are still competent to adjust, in the best 
way, all our present difficulty. 

In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and 
not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The 
Government will not assail you. 

You can have no conflict without being yourselves the 
aggressors. You have no oath registered in Heaven to 



INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 233 

destroy the Government ; while I shall have the most 
solemn one to " preserve, protect and defend" it. 

I am loth to close. We are not enemies, but friends. 
We must not be enemies. Though passion may have 
strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. 

The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every 
battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and 
hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the 
chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they 
will be, by the better angels of our nature. 



234 ABOLISHING SLAVERY. 



ABOLISHING SLAVERY IN THE DISTRICT 
OF COLUMBIA. 

I HAVE never doubted the constitutional authority of 
Congress to abolish slavery in this District, and I have 
ever desired to see the national capital freed from the 
institution in some satisfactory way. Hence there has 
never been, in my mind, any question upon the subject ex- 
cept the one of expediency, arising in view of all the cir- 
cumstances. If there be matters within and about this 
act which might have taken a course or shape more sat- 
isfactory to my judgment, I do not attempt to specify 
them. I am gratified that the two principles of com- 
pensation and colonization are both recognized and 
practically applied in the act. 

April i6, 1862. 



A. H. GARLAND. 



I NEVER had personally an opportunity to know 
or study Mr. Lincoln, and my ideas of him are made 
up altogether from reading, and from conversations with 
prominent gentlemen who knew him well. From these 
sources, I have the impression firmly fixed, that Mr. Lin- 
coln possessed great native good sense and a well- 
balanced head, what is generally called "common sense." 
He had an intuitive judgment of men, and he studied men 
closely ; with these he combined a liberal and charita- 
ble judgment, and viewed the shortcomings of his fellows 
with leniency, mercy and goodness of heart. His inten- 
tions were good, and, as I think, on the side of his coun- 
try at large, and I am of the opinion but few, very few, 
men would have passed through the ordeal of war, and 
such a war, as successfully as he did. The blow that 
struck him down inflicted a wound upon the whole coun- 
try. His loss to the country was severe indeed, for I 
believe, had he lived, the work of pacification, or quieting 
the Southern States to practical relations with the Union 
— to use his own language — would have progressed more 
smoothly, and been consummated in less time, and with 
less expense, less bitterness and less loss to all parties. 

In Mr. Lincoln's history there is as much profound 
stimulus to the young men of the country who desire to 
secure it, as in that of any man who has figured in our 
annals. 



Little Rock, 1882. 



236 FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 



FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE 

TO CONGRESS, DECEMBER 3, 1861, 

The war continues. In considering the policy to be 
adopted for suppressing the insurrection, I have been 
anxious and careful that the inevitable conflict for this 
purpose shall not degenerate into a violent and remorse- 
less revolutionary struggle. I have, therefore, in every 
case thought It proper to keep the integrity of the Union 
prominent as the primary object of the contest on our 
part, leaving all questions which are not of vital military 
importance to the more deliberate action of the legis- 
lature. 

In my present position, I could scarcely be justified 
were I to omit raising a warning voice against this 
approach of returning despotism. 

It Is not needed nor fitting here, that a general argu- 
ment should be made in favor of popular institutions ; but 
there is one point, with its connections, not so hackneyed 
as most others, to which I ask a brief attention. It Is 
the effort to place capital on an equal footing with. If not 
above laboi^, in the structure of government. It is 
assumed that labor is available only in connection with 
capital ; that nobody labors unless somebody else, owning 
capital, somehow, by the use of it, induces him to labor. 
This assumed, it is next considered whether It is best 
that capital shall hire laborers, and thus induce them to 
work by their own consent, or buy them, and drive them 



FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. «37 

to it without their consent. Having proceeded so far, it 
is naturally concluded that all laborers are either hired 
laborers or what we call slaves. And further, it is 
assumed that whoever is once a hired laborer is fij^ed in 
that condition for life. 

Now, there is no such relation between capital and 
labor as assumed ; nor is there any such thing as a free 
man beingf fixed for life in the condition of a hired 
laborer. Both these assumptions are false, and all infer- 
ences from them are groundless. 

Labor is prior to, and independent of capital. Capi- 
tal is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed 
if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of 
capital, and deserves much the higher consideration. 
Capital has its rights, which are as worthy of protection as 
any other rights. Nor is it denied that there is, and 
probably always will be, a relation between labor and 
capital, producing mutual benefits. The error is in assum- 
ing that the whole labor of a community exists within 
that relation. A few men own capital, and that few avoid 
labor themselves, and, with their capital, hire or buy 
another few to labor for them. A large majority belong 
to neither class — neither work for others, nor have others 
workine for them. In most of the Southern States a 
majority of the whole people, of all colors, are neither 
slaves nor masters ; while in the Northern a large major- 
ity are neither hirers nor hired. Men with their families 
— wives, sons, and daughters — work for themselves 
on their farms, in their houses, and in their shops, 
taking the whole product to themselves, and ask- 
ing no favors of capital on the one hand, nor of hired 



238 FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 

laborers or slaves on the other. It is not forgotten that HI 
a considerable number of persons mingle their own labor 
with capital — that is, they labor with their own hands, 
and also buy or hire others to labor for them ; but this is 
only a mixed, not a distinct, class. No principle stated is ' 
disturbed by the existence of this mixed class. 

Again, as has already been said, there is not, of 
necessity, any such thing as the free hired laborer being 
fixed to that condition for life. Many independent men 
everywhere in these States, a few years back in their ■ 
lives, were hired laborers. The prudent, penniless be- 
ginner in the world labors for wages awhile, saves a sur- 
plus with which to buy tools or land for himself ; then 
labors on his own account another while, and at length 
hires another new beginner to help him. This is the just 
and generous, and prosperous system, which opens the 
way to all, gives hope to all, and consequent energy and 
progress, and improvement of condition to all. No men 
living are more worthy to be trusted than those who toil 
up from poverty — none less inclined to take, or touch, 
aught which they have not honestly earned. Let them 
beware of surrendering a politicial power which they already 
possess, and which, if surrendered, will surely be used to 
close the door of advancement against such as they, and 
to fix new disabilities and burdens upon them till all of 
liberty shall be lost. 

The struggle of to-day is not altogether/^r to-day — it 
is for a vast future also. With a reliance on Providence, 
all the more firm and earnest, let us proceed in the great 
task which events have devolved upon us. 



IV. B. FRANKLIN. 2,^0 



I WAS on duty in Washington in 1861, when Mr. 
Lincohi was inaugurated, and knew him quite well. 
. But I never saw him after about the first part of Febru- 
' ary, 1862. In the short term of my acquaintance with 
;i him, I was always impressed with the great ability which 
h he displayed in his view of the situation of the country at 
that time, with the patience which he showed in listening 
to the views of people of all shades of opinion in the dis- 
cussion of various subjects, and with the good judgment 
which in my opinion he displayed in coming to a decision 
after hearing both sides of a question. 

No one could have known him well at that time with- 
out coming to the conclusion that all of his energy and 
ability were devoted to bringing the country through the 
war successfully. All side issues were avoided, nothing 
but the one end of the preservation of the Union was 
kept in view. Beset by fanatics of all sides of the ques- 
tion, he steered clear of all extremes, and his patriotism 
and good sense enabled him to do the right things at the 
right times. In his appointment of leading general 
officers at this time, the fitness of the men guided him, 
and I know a case in which he appointed a man against 
the advice of his Cabinet, because he had given the man 
a promise that if he raised a brigade he should be made 
a Brigadier-General, believing that this man represented 
a class which it was important to conciliate. The condition 
having been fulfilled, he appointed the man notwithstand- 



240 IV. B. FRANKLIN. 

Inor the earnest remonstrance of the Cabinet. Such actions 

o 

gave him the reputation of keeping promises after he had 
made them, a very different one from that of the ordinary 
poHtician. His untimely death was a misfortune to the 
country from which it has not yet recovered. 

Hartford, 1882. 



ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS. 241 



I KNEW Mr. Lincoln well and intimately. We 
were both members of the Thirtieth Congress, that 
is, from 1847 to 4th March, 1849. ^^ both belonged to 
the Whig organization of that day, and were both ardent 
supporters of General Taylor to the Presidency in 1848. 
Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Wm. Ballard Preston, and Mr. Thos. 
S. Flournoy of Va., Mr. Toombs of Georgia, Mr. E. C. 
Cambell of Florida, and one or two others, and myself 
formed the first Congressional Taylor Club ; we were 
known as the Young Indians, who by our extensive corre- 
spondence organized the Taylor movement throughout 
the country, which resulted in his nomination at Phila- 
delphia. Mr. Lincoln was careful as to his manners, 
awkward in his speech, but was possessed of a very 
strong, clear and vigorous mind. He always attracted 
the riveted attention of the House when he spoke ; his 
manner of speech as well as thought was original. He 
had no model. He was a man of strong convictions, and 
was what Carlyle would have called an earnest man. 
He abounded in anecdotes ; he illustrated everything that 
he was talking or speaking about by an anecdote ; his an- 
ecdotes were always exceedingly apt and pointed, and 
socially he always kept his company in a roar of laughter. 
In my last interview with him at the celebrated Hampton 
Roads Conference in 1865, this trait of his character 
seemed to be as prominent and striking as ever. He was 
a man of strong attachments, and his nature overflowed 

16 



242 



ALEXANDER IT. STEPHENS. 



with the milk of human kindness. Widely as we were 
separated in politics in the latter days of his life, yet I 
ever cherish for him a high degree of personal regard. 
I cheerfully give this tribute to his memory. 




Washington, 1882. 



HUGH J. HASTINGS.— O. W. HOLMES. 243 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN was the greatest Presi- 
L dent that ever occupied the Executive chair, and 
the best story-teller ever known to a free people. 




New York, 1881. 



I COULD wish that fitting words would offer them- 
selves to me to add to the multitude of tributes 
to the memory of Abraham Lincoln, but I fear that I 
should hardly find a phrase that eulogy has not applied or 
a sentiment to which patriotism has not given expression. 




Boston, 1882. 



244 PROCLAMATION. 



PROCLAMATION 

RELATIVE TO GENERAL HUNTER's ORDER DECLARING SLAVES 
WITHIN HIS DEPARTMENT FREE. 

I FURTHER make known, that whether it be competent 
for me, as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, 
to declare the slaves of any State or States free ; and 
whether, at any time or in any case, it shall have become 
a necessity indispensable to the maintenance of the gov- 
ernment to exercise such supposed powers, are questions 
which, under my responsibility, I reserve to myself, and 
which I cannot feel justified in leaving to the decision of 
commanders in the field. 

The United States ought to co-operate with any State 
which may adopt a gradual abolishment of slavery, giving 
to such State earnest expression to compensate for its 
inconveniences, public and private, produced by such 
change of system. 

I beg of you a calm and enlarged consideration of 
them, ranging, if it may be, far above partisan and per- 
sonal politics. This proposal makes common object, 
casting no reproaches upon any. It acts not the Pharisee. 
The change it contemplates would come gently as the 
dews of Heaven, not rending or wrecking anything. 
Will you not embrace it ? So much good has not been 
done, by one effort, in all past time, as, in the providence 
of God, it is now your high privilege to do. May the 
vast future not have a lament that you have neglected it ! 

May 19th, 1862. 



ANDREW SHUMAN. 245 



I KNEW him as a citizen, a lawyer and a politician, 
and I knew him afterwards as the President of 
the United States. His most striking: characteristic was 
his simplicity, next to that was his independence of 
thought and self-reliance of reason. He had the heart of 
a child and the intellect of a philosopher. A patriot 
without guile, a politician without cunning or selfishness, 
a statesman of practical sense rather than finespun 
theory. The more I contemplate the history of his pub- 
lic life and services, the more I study his words, his 
v/orks and the peculiarities of his character, the more I am 
inclined to believe that Abraham Lincoln was specially 
inspired, called and led by Providence to be the savior of 
our nation. 

Chicago, 1880. 



246 LINCOLN READING THE PROCLAMATION. 



LINCOLN READING THE EMANCIPATION 
PROCLAMATION TO HIS CABINET, 

SEPTEMBER 22. 

Gentlemen : — I have, as you are aware, thought a 
great deal about the relation of this war to slavery, and 
you all remember that several weeks ago I read to you 
an order I had prepared upon the subject, which, on ac- 
count of objections made by some of you, was not issued. 
Ever since then my mind has been much occupied with 
this subject, and I have thought all along that the time for 
acting on it might probably come. I think the time has 
come now ; I wish it was a better time. I wish that we were 
in abetter condition. The action of the army against the 
rebels has not been quite what I should have best liked, 
but they have been driven out of Maryland, and Penn- 
sylvania is no longer in danger of invasion. 

When the rebel army was at Frederick, I determined, 
as soon as it should be driven out of Maryland, to 
issue a proclamation of emancipation, such as I thought 
most likely to be useful. I said nothing to any one, 
but I made a promise to myself and (hesitating a 
little), to my Maker. The rebel army is now driven 
out, and am going to fulfill that promise. I have got you 
together to hear what I have written down. I do not 
wish your advice about the main matter, for that I have 
determined for myself. This I say without intending 
anything but respect for any one of you. But I already 



LINCOLN READING THE PROCLAMATION. 247 

know the views of each on this question. They have 
been heretofore expressed, and I have considered them 
as thoroughly and carefully as I can. What I have 
written is that which my reflections have determined me 
to say. If there is anything in the expressions I use, or 
in any minor matter which any one of you think had best 
be changed, I shall be glad to receive your suggestions. 
One other observation I will make. I know very well 
that many others might, in this matter as in others, do 
better than I can ; and if I was satisfied that the public 
confidence was more fully possessed by any one of them 
than by me, and knew of any constitutional way in which 
he could be put in my place, he should have it. 1 would 
gladly yield to him. But though I believe I have not so 
much of the confidence of the people as I had some time 
since, I do not know that, all things considered, any other 
person has more ; and, however this may be, there is 
no way in which I can have any other man put where 
I am. I am here ; I must do the best I can and bear the 
responsibility of taking the course which I feel I ought 
to take. 



248 REPLY TO THE RESOLUTIONS. 



REPLY TO THE RESOLUTIONS OF THE 

EAST BALTIMORE METHODIST 

CONFERENCE 

OF 1862. 

These kind words of approval, coming from so numer- 
ous a body of intelligent Christian people, and so free from 
all suspicion of sinister motives, are indeed encouraging 
to me. By the help of an all-wise Providence, I shall 
endeavor to do my duty, and I shall expect the continu- 
ance of your prayers for a right solution of our national 
difficulties, and the restoration of our country to peace 
and prosperity. 



EMERSON BENNETT. 249 



ON several occasions, during our unfortunate interne- 
cine troubles, it fell to my lot to visit Washington 
and have personal interviews with Abraham Lincoln, and 
my impression of him then was, and still is, that 
he possessed a heart, v/hich, in its great humane 
reach, would take in all mankind ; that he was 
a man of earnest, honest, single purpose ; entirely 
unostentatious, free from petty jealousy and ignoble 
ambition ; willing to live and labor for the good 
of mankind ; full of genuine sympathy ; thinking of 
everybody except himself ; and who felt as if he were 
sent to perform a mission on earth, that must hasten to 
a completion in order that he might be removed to an- 
other scene of action. He was intellectual beyond most 
men, with a grand reach of thought, which could grasp a 
great subject and comprehend it in its entirety, and then, 
with a few well-chosen words he could so simplify as to 
make it plain and clear to the most ordinary understand- 
ing. Along with a gentle, tender, yearning sympathy, he 
had the firmness of a rock and the courage of a lion. 
No one in the riofht ever feared to meet him, and no one 
in the wrong could stand unmoved before his deep, 
searching gaze. He was evidently a man of destiny — 
here for a purpose — to be removed with the end of his 
mission. Simple, sincere, honest, earnest, upright, just, 



250 EMERSON BENNETT. 

I 

pure, noble and good, he was one of the best men who 
lever lived to bless mankind, or died a martyr in a holy 
cause. 




Philadelphia, 1882. 



EUGENE J. HALL, 251 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

O HONORED name, revered and undecaying, 
Engraven on each heart, O soul sublime ! 
That, like a planet through the heavens straying, 
Outlives the wreck of time ! 

O rough strong soul, your noble self-possession 

Is unfo»-gotten. Still your work remains. 
You freed from bondage and from vile oppression 
A race in clanking chains. 

O furrowed face, beloved by all the nation ! 
O tall gaunt form, to memory fondly dear ! 
O firm bold hand, our strength and our salvation ! 
O heart that knew no fear ! 

Lincoln, your manhood shall survive forever, 
Shedding a fadeless halo round your name. 
Urging men on, with wise and strong endeavor, 
To bright and honest fame ! 

Through years of care, to rest and joy a stranger, 

You saw complete the work you had begun. 
Thoughtless of threats, nor heeding death or danger, 
You toiled till all was done. 

You freed the bondman from his iron master, 

You broke the strong and cruel chains he wore, 
You saved the Ship of State from foul disaster 
And brought her safe to shore. 

You fell ! An anxious nation's hopes seemed blighted. 

While millions shuddered at your dreadful fall ; 
But God is good! His wondrous hand has righted 
And reunited all. 



252 



EUGENE J. HALL, 



You fell, but in your death you were victorious ; 

To moulder in the tomb your form has gone, 
While through the world your great soul grows more glorious 
As years go gliding on ! 

All hail, great Chieftain ! Long will sweetly cluster 

A thousand memories round your sacred name, 
Nor time, nor death shall dim the spotless luster 
That shines upon your fame. 




Chicago, 1882. 



GEO. W. JULIAN— PHILIP SHAFF. 253 



T T E combined the integrity of Washington with the 



humanity of Wilberforce. 
Irvington, 1880. 



NEXT to Washington, the Father of our Independ- 
ence, stands Abraham Lincoln, the martyr of our 
Union, in the line of our Presidents. 




New York, 1882. 



254 TO THE OLD SCHOOL PRESBYTERIANS. 



TO THE SYNOD OF THE OLD SCHOOL 
PRESBYTERIANS OF BALTIMORE, 

WHO WAITED UPON HIM IN A BODY. 

I SAW, Upon taking my position here, I was going to 
have an administration, if an administration at all, of 
extraordinary difficulty. It was without exception a 
time of the greatest difficulty this country ever saw. I 
was early brought to a lively reflection, that nothing in 
my power whatever, or others, to rely upon, would suc- 
ceed, without direct assistance of the Almighty. I have 
often wished that I was a more devout man than I 
am ; nevertheless, amid the greatest difficulties of my 
administration, when I could not see any other resort, I 
would place my whole reliance in God, knowing all 
would go well, and that he would decide for the right. 



ALBERT PIKE. ?-;? 



TO say that he was pre-eminently an honest man, 
a frank, sincere, outspoken man, who deceived 
no one, wronged no one, cajoled no one ; that he 
was a great, strong, fearless man ; that he was unsel- 
fishly patriotic, a worshiper of the constitution ac- 
cording to the old Whig interpretation of it, a de- 
votee of the Union, an ardent lover of his whole 
country, hating no one, desiring to punish no one ; 
yearning to see the Union restored, and the old good 
will and good humor return to bless the land — to 
say all this is only to say weat is testified to by a 
cloud of witnesses, what no one anywhere will now not 
gladly admit. He occupied, I think, a larger place in the 
affections of the people than any of the great men who 
preceded him, and he will have it, I think, in the affec- 
tion of the generations that are to come. He would 
have said, if questioned, that he greatly preferred to be 
so remembered. He endeared himself to the people by 
ways and practices and observances all worthy and 
honorable, generous and fair ; and kindly memories of 
him are as general among those who, struggling to be- 
lieve political independence owed chiefly to him their 
defeat, as they are among the men of the States whose 
armies obeyed orders and maintained the Union. 

Washington, 1882. 



256 REPLY TO THE LUTHERANS. 



REPLY TO THE COMMITTEE OF THE 
LUTHERAN SYNOD OF 1862. 

I WELCOME here the representatives of the Evangeli- 
cal Lutherans of the United States, I accept with grati- 
tude their assurances of the sympathy and support of 
that enlightened, influential, and loyal class of my fellow- 
citizens in an important crisis, which involves, in my 
judgment, not only the civil and religious liberties of our 
own dear land, but in a large degree the civil and religious 
liberties of mankind in many countries and through many 
ages. You well know, gentlemen, and the world knows, 
how reluctantly I accepted this issue of battle forced up- 
on me, on my advent to this place, by the internal ene- 
mies of our country. You all know, the world knows 
the forces and the resources the public agents have 
brought into employment to sustain a government against 
which there has been brought not one complaint of 
real injury committed against society at home or 
abroad. You all may recollect that in taking up the 
sword thus forced into our hands, this government ap- 
pealed to the prayers of the pious and the good, and 
declared that it placed its whole dependence upon 
the favor of God. I now humbly and reverently, in 
your presence, reiterate the acknowledgment of that 
dependence, not doubting that, if it shall please the 
Divine Being wiio determines the destinies of nations, 
that this shall remain a united people, they will, 
humbly seeking the divine guidance, make their prolonged 
national existence a source of new benefit and conditions 
of mankind. 



ABRAM S. HEWITT. 257 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN was essentially a thinker 
l\. who had the courage of his convictions. He was 
a patriot who was ever willing to make personal sacrifices 
for his patriotism. He was, therefore, a man of action as 
well as of reflection. His character was based upon 
truth, and having been placed by fortune in the proper 
sphere of action, he showed he was a truly great man. 



t^Ac^/- Af-^^vi^' 



New York, 1880. 

17 



25 8 SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE. 



SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE 

TO CONGRESS, DECEMBER I, 1 862. 

Physically speaking, we cannot separate. We can- 
not remove our respective sections from each other, nor 
build an impassable wall between them. A husband and 
wife may be divorced and go out of the presence and be- 
yond the reach of each other ; but the different parts of 
our country cannot do this. They cannot but remain 
face to face; and intercourse, either amicable or hostile, 
must continue between them. Is it possible, then, to 
make that intercourse more advantageous or more satis- 
factory afte7' separation than before ? Can aliens make 
treaties easier than friends can make laws ? Can treaties 
be more faithfully enforced between aliens than laws can 
among friends ? Suppose you go to war, you cannot fight 
always ; and when, after much loss on both sides and no 
gain on either, you cease fighting, the identical old ques- 
tions, as to terms of intercourse, are again upon you. 

There is no line, straight or crooked, suitable for a 
national boundary, upon which to divide. Trace 
through, from east to west, upon the line between the free 
and slave country, and we shall find a little more than 
one-third of its length are rivers, easy to be crossed, and 
populated — or soon to be populated — thickly upon both 
sides ; while nearly all its remaining length are merely 
surveyors' lines, over which people may walk back and 
forth without any consciousness of their presence. No 



SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE. 259 

part of this line can be made any more difficult to pass 
by writing it down on paper or parchment as a national 
boundary. The fact of separation, if it comes, gives up, 
on the part of the seceding section, the fugitive slave 
clause, along with all other Constitutional obligations 
upon the section seceded from, while I should expect no 
treaty stipulation would ever be made to take its place. 

Is it doubted, then, that the plan I propose, if adopted, 
would shorten the war, and thus lessen its expenditure of 
money and of blood ? Is it doubted that it would restore 
the national authority and national prosperity, and per- 
petuate both indefinitely ? Is it doubted that we here 
— Congress and Executive — can secure its adoption ? 
Wili not the good people respond to a united and earnest 
appeal from us ? Can we, can they, by any other means, 
so certainly or so speedily, assure these vital objects ? 
We can succeed only by concert. It is not, "can any of 
us imagine better ?" but " can we all do better ?" Object 
whatsoever is possible, still the question recurs, " can we 
do better ?" The dogmas of the quiet past are inade- 
quate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high 
with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As 
our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. 
We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our 
country. 

Fellow-citizens, zve cannot escape history. We, of this 
Congress and this administration, will be remembered in 
spite of ourselves. No personal significance or insignifi- 
cance can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial 
through which we pass will light us down, in honor or 
dishonor, to the latest generation. We say we are for the 



26o SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE. 

Union. The world will not forget that we say this. 
We know how to save the Union. The world knows we 
do know how to save it. We — even we here — hold the 
power and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to 
the slave, we assitre freedom to the free — honorable alike 
in what we give and what we preserve. We shall nobly 
save, or meanly lose, the last, best hope of earth. Other 
means may succeed ; this could not fail. The way is 
plain, peaceful, generous, just — a way which, if followed, 
the world will forever applaud, and God must forever 
bless. 

A return to specie payments, however, at the earliest 
period compatible with due regard to all interests con- 
cerned, should ever be kept in view. Fluctuations in the 
value of currency are always injurious, and to reduce 
these fluctuations to the lowest possible point will always 
be a leading purpose in wise legislation. Convertibility 
— prompt and certain convertibility — into coin is generally 
acknowledged to be the best and surest safeguard against 
them ; and it is extremely doubtful whether a circulation 
of United States notes, payable in coin and sufficiently 
large for the wants of the people, can be permanently, 
usefully and safely maintained. 



A. CLEVELAND COXE. 261 



LINCOLN was as evidently raised up of God for 
-rf 1 86 1, as Washington was for 1776. Two more 
unlike each other could hardly be produced in the his- 
tory of a common country, among those who have identi- 
fied themselves with its progress ; but their common 
elements of character were those of the Anorlo-Saxon 
race (so-called), a love of freedom and of law ; percep- 
tions of the right thing to do and of the right time to do 
it ; all regulated by a sober faith in divine Providence, 
and a willingness to be His instrument for good to man- 
kind. 

Buffalo, 1882. 



262 EMANCIPATION- PROCLAMATION. 



EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION, 

JANUARY FIRST, 1 863. 

Whereas, on the 2 2d day of September, in the year 
of our Lord, 1862, a proclamation was issued by the Pres- 
ident of the United States, containing, among other things, 
the following, to wit : That on the first day of January, 
in the year of our Lord, 1863, all persons held as slaves, 
within any State or designated part of a State, the people 
whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United 
States, shall be thenceforth and forever free, and the 
Executive Government of the United States, including 
the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize 
and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no 
act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any 
effort they may make for their actual freedom ; that the 
Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, 
issue a proclamation, designating the States and parts 
of States, if any, in which the people therein, respect- 
ively, shall then be in rebellion against the United 
States, and the fact that any State or the people 
thereof, shall, on that day, be in good faith rep- 
resented in the Congress of the United States by mem- 
bers chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority 
of the qualified voters of such States shall have partici- 
pated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testi- 
mony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State and 
the people thereof are not in rebellion against the United 
States. 



\ 



EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. 263 

Now therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the 
United States, by virtue of the power vested in me as 
Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, in a time of 
actual armed rebellion against the authority of the Gov- 
ernment of the United States, as a fit and necessary war 
measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this 
first day of January, in the year of our Lord, 1863, and in 
accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed 
for the full period of one hundred days from the date of 
the first above-mentioned order, designate as the States 
and parts of States therein, the people whereof, respec- 
tively, are this clay in rebellion against the United States, 
the following, to wit : Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana 
(except the parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemine, Jeffer- 
son, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assump- 
tion, Terrebonne, La Fourche, St. Mary, St. Martin and 
Orleans, including the city of New Orleans), Mississippi, 
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Caro- 
lina and Virginia (except the forty-eight counties desig- 
nated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkley, 
Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess 
Anne and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and 
Portsmouth), which excepted parts are for the present left 
precisely as if this proclamation were not issued ; and by 
virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do 
order and declare that all persons held as slaves within 
designated States, or parts of States, are, and hencefor- 
ward shall be free, and that the Executive Government 
of the United States, including the military and naval au- 
thorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom 
of the said persons ; and I hereby enjoin upon the peo- 



264 EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. 

pie so declared to be free, to abstain from all violence, 
unless in necessary self-defense, and I recommend to 
them that, in all cases where allowed, they labor faith- 
fully for reasonable wages ; and I further declare and 
make known that such persons of suitable condition will 
be received into the armed service of the United States, 
to garrison forts, positions, stations and other places, and 
to man vessels of all sorts in said service. And upon this, 
sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the 
Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the con- 
siderate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of 
Almighty God. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and 
caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the City of Washington, this first day of Jan- 
uary, in the year of our Lord, 1863, and of the Indepen- 
dence of the United States of America, the eighty- 
seventh. 





FREHK DOUGLASS. 265 



A GREAT man, tender of heart, strong of 
nerve, of boundless patience and broadest sym- 
pathy, with no motive apart from his country, he 
could receive counsel from a child and give counsel to a 
sage. The simple approached him with ease, and the 
learned approached him with deference. Take him for 
all in all, Abraham Lincoln was one of the noblest, wisest 
and best men I ever knew. 

Washington, 1880. 




266 REPLY TO AN INVITATION. 



REPLY 

TO AN INVITATION TO PRESIDE OVER A MEETING OF THE 
CHRISTIAN COMMISSION, HELD IN WASH- 
INGTON, FEBRUARY 2 2, 1 863. 

While, for reasons which I deem sufficient, I must 
decUne to preside, I cannot withhold my approval of the 
meeting and its worthy objects. Whatever shall be sin- 
cerely, and in God's name, devised for the good of the 
soldiers and seamen in their hard spheres of duty, can 
scarcely fail to be blessed. And whatever shall tend to 
turn our thoughts from the unreasoning and uncharitable 
passions, prejudices, and jealousies incident to a great 
national trouble such as ours, and to fix them on the vast 
and long-enduring consequences, for weal or for woe, 
which are to result from the struggle, and especially to 
strengthen our reliance on the Supreme Being for the 
final triumph of the right, cannot but be well for us all. 

The birthdav of Washington and the Christian Sab- 
bath coinciding this year, and suggesting together the 
highest interests of this life and of that to come, it is the 
most propitious for the meeting proposed. 



GEO. S. BOUT WELL. 267 



PRESIDENT LINCOLN excelled all his contem- 
poraries, as he also excelled most of the eminent 
rulers of every time, in the humanity of his nature, in the 
constant assertion of reason over passion and feeling, in 
the art of dealing with men ; in fortitude, never disturbed 
by adversity, in capacity for delay when action was 
fraught with peril, in the power of immediate and reso- 
lute decision when delays were dangerous ; in comprehen- 
sive judgment, which forecasts the final and best opinion of 
nations and of posterity, and in the union of enlarged 
patriotism, wise philanthropy and the highest political 
justice, by which he was enabled to save a nation and to 
emancipate a race. 



^fc^ 




Chestnut Hills Farm, 1880. 



268 REPLY TO AN ADDRESS. 



REPLY 

TO AN ADDRESS FROM THE WORKINGMEN OF MANCHESTER, 

ENGLAND. 

I KNOW, and deeply deplore, the sufferings which the 
workingmen at Manchebter, and in all Europe, are called 
to endure In this crisis. It has been often and studiously 
represented that the attempt to overthrow this Govern- 
ment, which was built upon the foundation of human 
riehts, and to substitute for it one which should rest ex- 
clusively on the basis of human slavery, was likely to 
obtain the favor of Europe. Through the action of our 
disloyal citizens, the workingm.en of Europe have been 
subjected to severe trials, for the purpose of forcing their 
sanction to that attempt. Under these circumstances, I 
cannot but regard your decisive utterances upon the ques- 
tion as an instance of sublime Christian heroism, which 
has not been surpassed in any age or in any country. It 
is indeed an energetic and reinspiring assurance of the 
inherent power of truth, and of the ultimate and universal 
triumph of justice, humanity and freedom. I do not 
doubt that the sentiments you have expressed will be sus- 
tained by your great nation, and on the other hand I have 
no hesitation in assuring you that they will excite admira- 
tion, esteem, and the most reciprocal feelings of friend- 
ship among the American people. I hail this interchange 
of sentiment, therefore, as an augury, that, whatever else 



REPLY TO 4^ ADDRESS. 269 

may happen, whatever misfortune may befall your coun- 
try or my own, the peace and friendship which now exists 
between the two nations will be, as it shall be my desire 
to make them, perpetual. 

January 19, 1863. 



2 70 REMARKS. 



REMARKS 

MADE TO SOME FRIENDS NEW YEARS EVENING, 1 863, CON- 
CERNING THE PROCLAMATION. 

The signature looks a little tremulous, for my hand 
was tired, but my resolution was firm. I told them in 
September, if they did not return to their allegiance, and 
cease murdering our soldiers, I would strike at this pillar 
of their strength. And now the promise shall be kept, 
and not one word of it will I ever recall. 



HORACE MAYNARD. 271 



I AM glad there Is to be laid another block, perhaps 
I should say another course, upon the monument 
which the American people, year by year, are erecting to 
the memory of Abraham Lincoln. Every effort to per- 
petuate his name and make known his character engages 
my sympathy. 

My personal acquaintance with Mr. Lincoln began 
shortly after his first inauguration as President of the 
United States. The perturbed condition of public affairs 
soon brought me much Into his presence, and I saw more 
of him, by far, than Is usual in the case of persons occu- 
pying places so widely apart. I have seen most of the 
great men of our country, my contemporaries, and have 
known them, more or less, it has so happened. It was 
easy to say Mr. Lincoln was the greatest of them all, 
but this would imperfectly express my conception of the 
truth. He was great in a different way from any other. 
He impressed me as no other man ever did. Never was 
the title Honest so expressive of character — honest not 
only In action and word, but also in thought and feeling 
and purpose. When he gave a reason for what he did, 
you felt instinctively that It was the real reason and not a 
mere attempt at justification. It was this profound truth- 
fulness which gained for his words and actions the un- 
questioning confidence and support of the country. 




Knoxville, 1 88 1. 



^1 



272 THE LETTER TO ERASTUS CORNING, 



FROM THE LETTER TO ERASTUS CORN- 
ING AND OTHERS, 

JUNE 12, 1863. 

Must I shoot a simple-minded soldier bo}'' who de* 
serts while I must not touch a hair of a wily agitator 
who induces him to desert ? This is none the less injuri- 
ous when effected by getting a father, or brother, 
or friend, into a public meeting, and there work- 
ing upon his feelings till he is persuaded to write the 
soldier boy that he is fighting in a bad cause, for a wicked 
administration of a contemptible government, too weak to 
arrest and punish him if he shall desert. I think that in 
such a case, to silence the agitator and save the boy is 
not only constitutional, but withal a great mercy. 



/. M. STURTEVANT. 273 



I KNEW Mr. Lincoln very well, I may say somewhat 
intimately, before he was ever thought of in con- 
nection with the exalted station to which he was after- 
wards elected. In those years of his comparative ob- 
scurity, I knew him as preeminently a truthful man. 
His love of truth was conspicious in all his thinking. The 
object of his pursuit was truth, and not victory in argu- 
ment or the triumph of his party, or the success of his 
own cause. This was always conspicuous in his conver- 
sation. It constituted the charm of his conversation. 
In his society one plainly saw, that his aim was so to use 
words to express and not conceal his real thoughts. This 
characteristic had formed his style, both of conversation 
and of writing. His habitual love of truth had led him 
successfully to cultivate such a use of language as would 
most clearly and accurately express his thoughts. His 
words were a perfectly transparent medium through which 
his thought always shone out with unclouded distinct- 
ness. No matter on what subject he was speaking, any- 
person could understand him. This characteristic of his 
mind and heart gave a peculiar complexion to his 
speeches, whether at the bar, or in discussing the great 
political issues of the time. He always preferred to do 
more than justice rather than less to an opponent. It was 
often noticed, that he stated his opponent's argument with 
more force than his opponent himself had done. In the 
opening of his argument, his friends would often feel for 
the moment that he was surrendering the whole ground 

18 



2 74 /. M. STURTEVANT. 

in debate. They had no need to concern themselves on 
that subject, it would always turn out that he had only 
surrendered fallacious grounds, on which it was unsafe to 
rely, while the solid foundation on which his own faith 
rested was left intact, as the enduring basis on which he 
would build his argument. He was a very conscientious 
man ; his anti-slavery opinions had their seat in no mere 
political expediency, but in the very depths of his moral 
nature. In the summer of 1856 he delivered a speech to 
a very large audience assembled on the public square in 
this city ; the population of this county were at that time 
very largely of Southern origin, and had those views of 
slavery which prevailed in the States from which they 
came. His audience on that occasion were very largely 
of that character. Yet Mr. Lincoln made a very frank 
and explicit avowal of his opposition to slavery on moral 
grounds, and drew his argument against it from the 
deepest roots of natural justice ; yet he presented the case 
with such irresistible eloquence that his speech was re- 
ceived with the greatest favor, and often with outbursts of 
very hearty applause. That speech went far in all this 
region to establish his reputation as a popular orator. 

In a conversation I once had with him, at what was 
then his dingy office in Springfield, where I had gone for 
no other purpose than to enjoy the luxury of an hour's 
conversation with him, I spoke of the then recent anti- 
slavery excitement in St. Louis as proceeding entirely 
upon the ground of expediency for the white man. " I," 
said Mr. Lincoln, " must take into account the rights of 
the poor negro." That conscientious element is appar- 
ent in the whole course of his public policy. Conscience 



/. M. STURTEVAN2\ 275 

constrained him to regard his oath to respect the consti- 
tution of the United States; and yet always to remember 
the rights of the negro, and to do all for him which his con- 
stitutional powers permitted him to do. Had he not been 
conscientious in both these directions, he would, in all 
probability, have plunged his country in last anarchy. 
Most admirably did his statesmanship combine in itself the 
true conservative and the true radical. He was just such 
a statesman as every nation needs in the great crisis of its 
history. It is eminently an American phenomenon, that 
a man was born in a log-cabin in the backwoods of Ken- 
tucky, who had precisely the intellectual endowments and 
moral characteristics which his country would need in its 
chief magistrate, in its hour of supreme necessity. Verily 
there is a God in history ! Mr. Lincoln's emotional char- 
acter was one of the most kindly I have ever known. 
The tenderness of his affections was almost womanly. I 
confess I sometimes thought this trait in his character 
was rather in excess, certainly, for the ruler of a great na- 
tion. He was not only incapable of malice, but I some- 
times thought he was too much afraid of hurting any- 
body's feelings. If it was a fault, it was a fault of a great 
and magnanimous soul, of which few men are capable. If 
he had any vices they always leaned to virtue's side. 
The wail of sorrow with which his foul taking-off was re- 
ceived throughout the civilized world was a spontaneous 
tribute to the exalted and unique virtues of his character, 
pointing him out as the man who, of all the great historic 
names, had least deserved so sad a fate. There are re- 
markable analogies and equally remarkable contrasts be- 
tween the careers of Mr. Lincoln and Gen. Garfield. 



276 /. M. STURTEVANT. 

Both originated in obscurity and in the midst of the pri- 
vations of frontier life ; both were great in the natural en- 
dowments of the intellect, and greater still in the exalted 
moral characteristics in which they shone above most 
others of our statesmen. Both were cut off in the midst 
of their high career and in the very prime of life, by the 
hand of the merciless assassin. At the untimely and 
violent death of both, the civilized world put on mourning 
to an extent never before seen in history. 

The contrast appears chiefly in this. Mr. Lincoln was 
born and reared in a community in which the advantages 
of education had been little enjoyed, and consequently the 
spirit of liberal learning had been little diffused. He had 
none to encourage and help him. He must find his way 
out into the light of knowledge by his own unassisted 
efforts. As a consequence, he did not acquire the first 
rudiments of an education till he had reached mature 
manhood. Mr. Garfield was born in a community in which 
education had been universal from its very origin, and 
where men built the school-house in every neighborhood 
simultaneously with their own log cabins. The whole 
people was, as the consequence, imbued with the spirit of 
liberal learning, and as soon as young Garfield began to 
show the superiority of his talents in the common school, 
the suggestion came from every quarter, you should have 
a collegiate education. An educated community bore him. 
onward towards his great destiny from his very boyhood. 
This made the task a comparatively easy one. At the 
time of life when Mr. Lincoln was just beginning to 
acquire the first rudiments, Mr. Garfield was already a 
graduate of one of our most renowned colleges. Such is 



/. M. STURTEVANT. 211 

the advantage of being born in a community in which the 
first rudiments of knowledge are universally diffused by 
the ubiquitous common school. 

That Mr. Lincoln succeeded in surmounting the ob- 
stacles which hemmed him in on every side, is wonderful 
indeed. Few men, certainly, have ever risen to greatness, 
purely by the force of intellectual and moral excellence, 
by a road so hard as that by which he traveled ; yet he 
accomplished the mighty task without one of the arts of 
tlie demagogue, or one of the vices of the corrupt poli- 
tician ; and transferred his residence from the obscure log- 
cabin in the wilderness, to the executive mansion of a 
mighty nation, in his fifty-third year. Dying by violence in 
his fifty-seventh year, he left a name behind to be forever 
spoken with honor and reverence in the halls of the great 
and in the palaces of kings, and to be cherished with im- 
perishable affection in the humble dwellings of the poor 
and lowly. 



Jacksonville, i882. 




278 RESPONSE TO A SERENADE. 



RESPONSE TO A SERENADE, 

July, 1863. 

I AM very glad indeed to see you to-night, and yet I 
will not say I thank you for this call ; but I do most sin- 
cerely thank Almighty God for the occasion on which 
you have called. How long ago is it? — eighty odd years 
— since, on the Fourth of July, for the first time in the his- 
tory of the world, a nation, by its representatives, assem- 
bled and declared as a self-evident truth, " that all men 
are created equal." That was the birthday of the United 
States of America. Since then the Fourth of July has 
had several very peculiar recognitions. The two men 
most distinguished in the framing and support of the 
Declaration were Thomas Jefferson and John Adams — 
the one having penned it, and the other sustained it the 
most forcibly in debate — the only two of the fifty-five 
who signed it, and were elected Presidents of the United 
States. Precisely fifty years after they put their hands 
to the paper, it pleased Almighty God to take both from 
this stage of action. This was indeed an extraordinary 
and remarkable event in our history. Another President 
five years after was called from this stage of existence on 
the same day and month of the year ; and now on this 
last Fourth of July just passed, when we have a gigantic 
rebellion, at the bottom of which is an effort to overthrow 
the principle that all men were created equal, we have 
the surrender of a most powerful position and army on 



RESPONSE TO A SERENADE. 279 

that very day. And not only so, but in a succession of 
battles in Pennsylvania, near to us, through three days, 
so rapidly fought that they might be called one great 
battle, on the first, second and third of the month of 
July; and on the fourth the cohorts of those who 
opposed the declaration that all men are created equal, 
"turned tail" and run. Gentlemen, this is a glorious 
theme and the occasion for a speech, but I am not pre- 
pared to make one worthy of the occasion. I would like 
to speak in terms of praise due to the many brave 
officers and soldiers who have fought in the cause of the 
Union and liberties of their country from the begin- 
ning of the war. These are trying occasions, not only in 
success, but for the want of success. I dislike to mention 
the name of one single officer, lest I might do wrong to 
those I might forget. Recent events bring up glorious 
names, and particularly prominent ones : but these I will 
not mention. Having said this much, I will now take 
the music. 



28o THE FRESIDENT'S DISPATCH. 






THE PRESIDENT'S DISPATCH, 

July 4, 1863. 

The President announces to the country, that news 
from the Army of the Potomac, to ten p. m. of the third, 
is such as to cover that army with the highest honor ; to 
promise a great success to the cause of the Union, and to 
claim the condolence of all for the many gallant fallen ; 
and that, for this, he especially desires that on this day, 
He, whose will, not ours, should ever be done, be every- 
where remembered, and reverenced with profoundest 
gratitude. 



WENDELL PHILLIPS— NOAH PORTER. 



2S1 



HE was one whom responsibility educated, and he 
showed himself more and more nearly equal to 
duty as year after year laid on him ever fresh burdens. 
God-given and God-led and sustained, we must ever be- 
lieve him. 




Boston, 1880. 



THUS saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have 
I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I 
helped thee .... That thou mayest say to the pris- 
oners, go forth ; to them that are in darkness, show your- 
selves. — Isaiah xlix. 8, 9. 



o4/7e4^y{^ir/C^ ^ 



Yale College, 1880. 



282 PROCLAMATION. 



PROCLAMATION. 

The year that is drawing towards its close has been 
filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful 
skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly en- 
joyed that we are prone to forget the source from which 
they come, others have been added which are of so extra- 
ordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and 
soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to 
the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God. In the 
midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, 
which has sometimes seemed to invite and provoke the 
aggressions of foreign states, peace has been preserved 
with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws 
have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has pre- 
vailed everywhere except in the theater of military conflict, 
while that theater has been greatly contracted by the ad- 
vancing armies and navies of the Union. The needful 
diversion of wealth and strength from the fields of peace- 
ful industry to the national defense, have not arrested the 
plow, the shuttle, or the ship. The axe has enlarged the 
borders of our settlements, and the mines as well of iron 
and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more 
abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily in- 
creased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in 
the camp, the siege and the battle-field ; and the country, 
rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and 
vigor, is permitted to expect a continuance of years with 



PROCLAMATION. 283 

large Increase of freedom. No human counsel hath de- 
vised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these ereat 
things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High 
God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, 
hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to 
me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverent- 
ly, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and 
voice, by the whole American people. I do, therefore, 
invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United 
States, and also those who are at sea, and those who are 
sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the 
last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiv- 
ing and prayer to our beneficent Father, who dwelleth in 
the heavens. And I recommend to them that, while 
offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such 
singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with 
humble penitence for our national perverseness and diso- 
bedience, commend to his tender care all those who have 
become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the 
lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably en- 
gaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Al- 
mighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to 
restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the divine 
purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tran- 
quillity, and union. 



October 3, 1863. 





284 REPLY TO ^A COMMITTEE. 



REPLY TO COMMITTEE OF THE PRESBY- 
TERIAN CHURCH (NEW SCHOOL),. 

PHILADELPHIA, 1 863. 

In my administration I might have committed some 
errors. It would be indeed remarkable if I had not. I 
have acted according to my best judgment in every case. 
As a pilot I have used my best exertions to keep afloat 
our ship of state, and shall be glad to resign my trust at 
the appointed time to another pilot more skillful and suc- 
cessful than I may prove. In every case, and at all 
hazards, the Government must be perpetuated. Relying, 
as I do, upon the Almighty Power, and encouraged, as I 
am, by these resolutions which you have just read, with the 
support which I receive from Christian men, I shall not 
hesitate to use all the means at my control to secure the 
termination of this rebellion, and will hope for success. 



S. IRENAEUS PRIME. 285 



MY FIRST SIGHT OF MR. LINCOLN. 

HE was riding into the city of New York with 
military and civic escort, on his way to Wash- 
ington to be inaugurated for the first time to the Presi- 
dency of the United States. The country was at that 
moment in the first throes of the great rebelHon. Mil- 
Hons of hearts were beating anxiously in view of the ad- 
vent to power of this untried man. Had he been called 
of God to the throne of power at such a time as this to 
be the leader and deliverer of the people ? 

As the carriage in which he sat passed slowly by me 
on the Fifth avenue, he was looking weary, sad, feeble 
and faint. My disappointment was excessive, so great, 
indeed, as to be almost overwhelming. He did not look 
to me to be the man for the hour. The next day I was 
with him and others in the Governor's room in the City 
Hall, when the Mayor of the city made to Mr. Lincoln an 
official address. Of this speech I will say nothing ; but 
the reply by Mr. Lincoln was so modest, firm, patriotic 
and pertinent, that my fears of the day before began to 
subside, and I saw in this new man a promise of great 
thinofs to come. It was not boldness nor dash, nor hicrh- 
sounding pledges ; nor did he, in office, with the mighty 
armies of a roused nation at his command, ever assume 
to be more than he promised in that little upper chamber 
in New York, on his journey to the seat of government. 



286 S. IRENAEUS PRIME. 

to take the helm of the ship of state then tossing in the 
storm. During the war, I was dining with a party of 
which Gen. Burnside was one. A gentleman expressed 
surprise and regret that the war had not brought to the 
front in civil service some man of such commanding force 
of character, will-power and genius as ta compel his coun- 
trymen to accept him as the born statesman for the hour. 
Gen. Burnside said : "We are drifting, and it is better 
so. I think Mr. Lincoln is just the man to keep the ship 
on its course. One more headstrong, willful and resolute 
miofht divide and weaken the counsels of the nation. We 
shall go through and come out all right." It did not 
please God to spare him until the people were settled in 
peace in the redeemed and reunited land. But he saw 
from the mount of vision the goodly sight afar, and died 
in faith. 



<IA 6<^^^^^:'<>t^ ^^^^ 



New York, 1882. 



ALEX. RAMSEY— C. E. PRATT. 287 



MR. LINCOLN'S life was one of true patriotism, 
and his character one of honesty and of the 
highest type of religious sentiment. 

St. Paul, 1882. 



WHEN history crystalHzes that the events of a 
century shall be recorded in a sentence, then will 
the administrations of Washington and Lincoln be the 
epochal marks of this age. The former founded a re- 
public, the latter was the great emancipator of the nine- 
teenth century. 



< ^f/^^^ 



Brooklyn, 1880. 



288 LETTER TO GENERAL GRANT. 



LETTER TO GENERAL GRANT. 

Major-General Grant. — My Dear General : I do 
not remember that you and I ever met personally. I 
write this now as a grateful acknowldgement for the al- 
most inestimable service you have done the country. 
I write to say a word further. When you first reached 
the vicinity of Vicksburg, I thought you should do what 
you finally did — march the troops across the neck, run 
the batteries with the transports, and thus go below ; and 
I never had any faith, except a general hope that you 
knew better than I, that the Yazoo Pass expedition, and 
the like, could succeed. When you got below, and 
took Port Gibson, Grand Gulf and vicinity, I thought 
you should go down the river and join General Banks ; 
and when you turned northward, east of the Big Black, 
I feared it was a mistake. I now wish to make the 
personal acknowledgment that you were right and I was 
wrong. 



MAY PALMER. 289 



THERE can be, I think, but one opinion among 
those competent to form a judgment of the gen- 
eral character and services of Abraham Lincoln. His 
native genius, the solidity of his understanding, his com- 
mon sense and remarkable sagacity, his patience and 
courage, and above all, his incorruptible integrity and 
steadfast faith in God, gave him eminent administrative 
ability, made him a noble man, a great statesman and the 
second Father of his Country, This will, I doubt not, be 
the judgment of history. 





Newark, 1882. 

19 



290 A PROCLAMATION. 



A PROCLAMATION. 

JULY 15, 1863. 

It has pleased Almighty God to hearken to the suppli- 
cation and prayers of an afflicted people, and to vouchsafe 
to the army and the navy of the United States, on the 
land and on the sea, victories so signal and so effective as 
to furnish reasonable grounds for augmented confidence 
that the Union of these States will be maintained, their 
constitution preserved, and their peace and prosperity 
permanently secured. But these victories have been ac- 
corded not without sacrifice of life, limb, and liberty, in- 
curred by brave, patriotic and loyal citizens. Domestic 
affliction, in every part of the country, follows in the 
train of these fearful bereavements. It is meet and right 
to recognize and confess the presence of th° Almighty 
Father ; and the power of his hand equally in these tri- 
umphs and these sorrows. 

Now, therefore, be it known, that I do set apart 
Thursday, the sixth day of August next, to be observed 
as a day for national thanksgiving, praise and prayer ; 
and I invite the people of the United States to assemble 
on that occasion in their customary places of worship, 
and, in the form approved by their own conscience, ren- 
der the homage due to the Divine Majesty, for the won- 
derful things he has done in the nation's behalf, and 
invoke the influence of his holy Spirit, to subdue the 
anger which has produced, and so long sustained, a 



A PROCLAMATION. 291 

needless and cruel rebellion ; to change the hearts of 
the insurgents ; to guide the counsels of the govern- 
ment with wisdom adequate to so great a national 
emergency ; and to visit with tender care and consolation, 
throughout the length and breadth of our land, all those 
who, through the vicissitudes of marches, voyages, battles,, 
and sieges, have been brought to suffer in mind, body or 
estate ; and finally, to lead the whole nation through paths 
of repentance and submission to the Divine will, back to 
the perfect enjoyment of union and fraternal peace. 



^^/rt^T^x^L^^.^ al^c^ol^' 



292 PRESENTATION TO U. S. GRANT. 



PRESENTATION OF A COMMISSION AS 

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL TO U. S. 

GRANT. 

General Grant : — The nation's appreciation of 
what you have done, and its reliance upon you for what 
remains to be done in the existing great struggle, are now 
presented with this commission, constituting you Lieu- 
tenant-General in the Army of the United States. With 
this high honor devolves upon you also a corresponding 
responsibility. As the country herein trusts you, so, 
under God, it will sustain you. I scarcely need to add, 
that with what I here speak for the nation, goes my own 
hearty personal concurrence. 




? 



^^^ 



ij.i^-^HftM^ K^i^^H^^ }g;^^^jjM4J^^i^^ mmwKTmM^ 




NATIONAL LINCOLN MONUMENT AT SPRINGFIELD. ILLINOIS 



De- 



Unveiled and dedicated. October 15, 1874. DimeTipions73>^ by II914 feet square, and 100 feet high. 
Bigncd and modeled by Laikin G. Alead. Cost. $212,000. 

Emblematic ill of the C"iistltuti()n of the United Slates. President Lincoln standing above the coat of 
arms, with the Infantry. Navy. Artillery, and Cavalry marshalled aronnd hira, wields all for h'lkling ihe States 
together iu a perpetual bond of Union, witliout which he could uever hope to effect the gn at enemv of human 
freedom. The grand climax is indicated by President Lincoln with his left hand balding out as a golden 
sceptre, the Kmancipation Proclamation, while in his right he holds the pen with which he had just 
written it. The right hand is resting on another badce of authority, the American Flag, thro\vn over the 
fasces. Atthefootoftbe/asc€5 lies a wreath of laurel with which to crown the President as the victor over 
slavery and rebellion. 



WM. I". FRYE. 293 



I HAVE no capacity to do justice to the greatness, 
purity and honesty of Abraham Lincoln, nor to 
the immense value of his service to our country. The 
great heart of the nation alone is equal to a work of 
such maornltude. He touched the manacles of four mil- 
lions of men and women, and in the twinkling of an eye 
they dropped off forever. He wrote a word, and slavery, 
which had huno^ like a mill-stone around the neck of the 
nation, compelling it to bow its head In shame and dis- 
grace, sunk into oblivion. The possibilities of his life 
were grand ; how grandly were they realized ! The glory 
and luster of his name will stand In the history of the 
nation "more lasting than a monument of brass." 




Lewiston, 1882. 



294 LETTER TO JAMES C. CONKLING. 



LETTER TO JAMES C CONKLING, 

AUGUST, 1863. 

The signs look better. The Father of Waters again 
goes unvexed to the sea. Thanks to the great Northwest 
for it; not yet wholly to them. Three hundred miles 
up they met New England, Empire, Keystone and Jersey, 
hewing their way right and left. The sunny South, too, 
in more colors than one, also lent a helping hand. On 
the spot, their part of the history was jotted down in 
black and white. The job was a great national one, and 
let none be slighted who bore an honorable part in it. 
And while those who have cleared the great river may 
well be proud, even that is not all. It is hard to say that 
anything has been more bravely and well done than at 
Antietam, Murfreesboro, Gettysburg, and on many fields 
of less note. Nor must Uncle Sam's wet feet be for- 
gotten. At all the watery margins they have been pres- 
ent. Not only on the deep sea, the broad bay, and the 
rapid river, but also up the narrow, muddy bayou, and 
wherever the ground was a little damp, they have been 
and made their tracks. Thanks to all. For the great' 
republic — for the principle it lives by and keeps alive — 
for man's vast future — thanks to all. Peace does not ap- 
pear so distant as it did. I hope it will come soon and 
come to stay ; and so come as to be worth the keeping in 
all future time. It will then have been proved that 
among freemen there can be no successful appeal from 



LETTER TO JAMES C. CONKLING. 295 

the ballot to the bullet, and that they who take such 
appeal are sure to lose their case and pay the cost. And 
there will bs some black men who can remember that with 
silent tongue, and clinched teeth, and steady eye, and 
well-poised bayonets, they have helped mankind on to this 
great consummation, while I fear there will be some white 
ones unable to forget that with malignant heart and 
deceitful speech they have striven to hinder it. Still, let 
us not be over-sanguine of a speedy, final triumph. Let 
us be quite sober. Let us diligently apply the means, 
never doubting that a just God, in his own good time, 
will give us the rightful result. 




GU^^vC.0^ 



296 REPLY TO GOVERNOR SEYMOUR. 



REPLY TO THE LETTER OF GOVERNOR 
SEYMOUR, OF NEW YORK, 

AUGUST, 1863. 

No time is wasted, no argument is used. This pro- 
duces an army which will soon turn upon our now vic- 
torious soldiers in the field, if they shall not be sustained 
by recruits as they should be. It produces an army with 
a rapidity not to be matched on our side, if we first waste 
time to re-experiment with the volunteer system, already 
deemed by Congress, and palpably, in fact, so far 
exhausted as to be inadequate, and then more time to 
obtain a court decision as to whether a law is constitu- 
tional which requires a part of those not now in the serv- 
ice to go to the aid of those who are already in it ; and 
still more time to determine with absolute certainty that 
we get those who are to go in the precisely legal pro- 
portion to those who are not to go. My purpose is to 
be in my action just and constitutional, and yet practical 
in performing the important duty with which I am 
charged, of maintaining the unity and free principles of 
our common country. 



■ylA^ 





EUGENE HALE— ALBERT /. MEYER. 297 



HE was not only the head of an administration 
which shaped events the mightiest of the century, 
but its balance-wheel also. The American people 
owe it to him that the important steps in the war for the 
preservation of the Union were taken just at the fitting 
moment. 

Ellsworth, 1880. 



^'"^ E just and fear not." 



B 




U. S. Signal Service, 1880. 



298 ADDRESS 

ADDRESS ON THE BATTLE-FIELD OF 
GETTYSBURG, 

NOVEMBER 1 9, 1 863. 

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought 
forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in Lib- 
erty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are 
created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, 
testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived 
and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a 
great battle-field of that war. We are met to dedicate a 
portion of it as the final resting-place of those who here 
gave their lives that that nation might live. It is alto- 
gether fitting and proper that we should do this. 

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot 
consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave 
men, livinor and dead, who struoforled here, have conse- 
crated it far above our power to add or detract. The 
world will little note, nor long remember, what we say 
here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is 
for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the un- 
finished work that they have thus far so nobly carried on. 
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great 
task remaining before us — that from these honored dead 
we take increased devotion to the cause for which they 
here gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here 
highly resolve that the dead shall not have died in vain — 
that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of free- 
dom, and that dje government of the people, by the peo- 
ple, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth. 




ARTILLERY GROUP OF STATUARY. NATIONAL LINCOLN MONUMENT. 

Renrespiilin? three artillerymen, one, an officer standing on a dismounted cannon in an alti- 
tndeo?(lefiaTe>hilc below him ia'a prostrate soldier, wounded by the same sho that disabled 
his gun, and a boy in an attitude of sympathy and horror, 8prin!,nng forward as if to >uccor his 
wounded comrade. 



C. A. PAYNE. 299 



GREAT men are divinely called to great missions. 
As certainly as God called Abraham to be the 
human founder of his church, or Moses to lead his people 
out of bondage into liberty, or "girded" Cyrus for his bene- 
ficent work, though unknown by that famous commander, 
or commissioned Paul to be the leader of an evanofelistic 
host, to open the gates of gospel day to heathen nations, 
or inspired Luther and Wesley to rekindle the fires of 
religion on the altars of a faithless church, so certainly 
does it appear to thoughtful minds that he called Abra- 
ham Lincoln to rise from the log-cabin in the wilderness, 
through difficulties and obstacles that would have ap- 
palled a weaker man, to take the helm of the new 
American nation in its crisis hour, to strike the shackles 
from an enslaved race, and thence to ascend to a victor's 
throne and a martyr's crown. 



•^>^^^^ 



Delaware, 1880. 



300 THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE. 



THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE TO CONGRESS, 

DECEMBER 8, 1 863. 

In the midst of other cares, however important, we 
must not lose sight of the fact that the war power is still 
our main reliance. To that power alone can we look, yet 
for a time, to give confidence to the people in the con- 
tested regions that the insurgent power will not again 
overrun them. Until that confidence shall be established, 
little can be done anywhere for what is called reconstruc- 
tion. Hence our chiefest care must still be directed to 
the army and navy, who have thus far borne their harder 
part so nobly and well. And it may be esteemed fortu- 
nate, that in giving the greatest efficiency to these indis- 
pensable arms, we do also honorably recognize the gallant 
men, from commander to sentinel, who compose them, and 
to whom, more than to others, the world must stand 
indebted for the home of freedom, disenthralled, regen- 
erated, enlarged and perpetuated. 



CHARLES HENRY HART. 301 



MR. LINCOLN was certainly a most remarkable 
man. He was undoubtedly well fitted for the 
times in which he lived, and the emergency that con- 
fronted him. He began with a very moderate degree of 
puDlic confidence and sympathy. A large proportion of 
the community had, at the time of his first election, and 
for a considerable period afterwards, a painful sense of 
distrust as to his qualifications for the position to which 
he had been called. This distrust was slow to yield. 
Good things were done, but they were all attributed, on 
account of this preconceived opinion of his abiHty, to the 
excellence of his advisers, while the evils and the mistakes 
were all laid to him. His physical organization must not 
be overlooked as one of the sources of his success. The 
great practical men of the world have been, not neces- 
sarily of large, but of strong bodily frames. To the 
heathen philosopher, a sound mind in a sound body 
seemed the greatest good : " Mens sana in cor pore sano.'' 
The discipline of his early life prepared his frame for 
the laborious duties which were to devolve upon him. 
It is true that this discipline did not develop his form into 
a beautiful and graceful one — his warmest friends could 
not claim that for him — but they could declare that " his 
large eyes in their softness and beauty expressed nothing 
but benevolence and gentleness," and that a pleasant 
smile frequently brought out more vividly the earnest 
cast of his features, which were serious even to sadness. 
He has been called by one of his best friends "a wiry, 



302 CHARLES HENRY HART. 

awkward giant." He was six feet four inches high ; his 
arms were long, almost disproportionately so ; his mouth 
and nose were both exceedingly large ; his features were 
coarse, and his large hands exhibited the traces of toil. 
He was not specially attentive to dress, though by no 
means slovenly. The formal politeness of fashionable 
life he had not, though the gentleness of the unspoiled 
child of nature he had. He said once that he had never 
studied the art of paying compliments to women. Yet 
they never received a grander one than he paid when he 
declared : " If all that has been said by orators and 
poets since the creation of the world, in praise of 
women, were applied to American women, it would not 
do them justice for their conduct doing the war." It has 
been stated that he had none of the grossness of life. 
He was not a licentious man. He was not addicted to 
the use of profane language. He did not gamble. He 
was temperate, and he did not use tobacco in any form. 
Only those who have known the fearful extent to which 
these habits prevail among our public men can appre- 
ciate the honor which the absence of them confers upon 
the late President. His honesty passed into a proverb, 
and his integrity was beyond reproach. It was not called 
in question, even in the height of political excitement and 
vituperation. His qualities of heart were such as com- 
mended him to all men. He was naturally disposed to 
think well of his race. His prepossessions were generally 
in favor of a man. He would rather love than hate him ; 
in fact, he seemed as if he could not hate him if he would. 
The entire absence of vindictiveness, either personal or 
political, was one of the ripe fruits of his native tender- 



CHARLES HENRY HART. 303 

ness. Was he ever heard to have said a hard thing of 
his opponents, or known to have uttered a single word 
showing personal hate or even personal feeling ? Between 
him and his predecessors no parallel can be drawn, for no 
other President ever held the reins of power through 
four years of virulent rebellion. It is therefore impossi- 
ble to say how much better or how much worse others 
would have done. Not graceful nor refined, not always 
using the English language correctly, he proved to be a 
meet and proper man for the times. He had the greatness 
of goodness ; not a powerful nor a brilliant intellect, but 
plain, practical good sense ; a sincere purpose to do right ; 
an eminent Catholic spirit that was ready to listen to all 
sides, and a firm, unshaken belief in the expediency of 
justice. When others with higher and more profound 
faculties might have failed, he succeeded, guided by his 
matchless sagacity and prudence and common sense and 
native shrewdness. His thoughts were his own; they 
were fresh and original, and were clothed with a quaint- 
ness, a directness, a simplicity of style, peculiar to him- 
self. He had a vein of humor which marked him from 
all other men in his position, and lost him, perhaps, the 
reputation of official dignity ; and yet this very humor, 
which in most important emergencies could not refrain 
from making the witty repartee or telling the pointed 
anecdote, undoubtedly helped him to endure those 
fatigues and cares under which he would otherwise have 
sunken. 

In the words of Daniel Webster on the death of 
President Taylor : " He has left on the minds of the 
country a strong impression ; first, of his absolute honesty 



304 CHARLES HENRY HART. 

and integrity of character ; next, of his sound, practical 
good sense ; and lastly, of the mildness, kindness and 
friendliness of his temper towards his countrymen. 




Philadelphia, 1882. 



G. S. HUBBARD, 305 



MY acquaintance with the. lamented President Lin- 
coln began in the winter of 1832-3, during the 
session of the Legislature of this State, of which I was a 
member, and warmly interested in procuring an act for 
the construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, for 
which I had introduced a bill, which was defeated. I then 
introduced a bill for a railroad, instead of a canal, which 
passed the House, lost in the Senate by the casting vote 
of the Speaker, Zadoc Casey. At the next session Mr. 
Lincoln was a member. I, as a lobbyist, attended that and 
the successive sessions until the passage of the act to 
construct the canal. Mr. Lincoln, in and out of the Leg- 
islature, favored its construction at the earliest possible 
moment, by his advice, and rendered efficient aid. Indeed, 
I very much doubt if the bill could have passed as early 
as it did without his valuable help. We were thrown 
much together, our intimacy increasing. I never had a 
friend to whom I was more warmly attached. His char- 
acter was nearly faultless. Possessing a warm, generous 
heart, genial, affable, honest, courteous to his opponents, 
persevering, industrious in research, never losing sight of 
the principal point under discussion, aptly illustrating by 
his stories, always brought into good effect ; he was free 
from political trickery or denunciation of the private 
character of his opponents ; in debate firm and collected ; 
with "charity towards all, malice towards none," he won 
the confidence of the public, even of his political oppo- 
nents. 

20 



3o6 G. S. HUBBARD. 

His elevation to the highest honor within the o-ift of 
the people did not alter his feelings or deportment towards 
his acquaintances, however humble. The poor and igno- 
rant, the wealthy and educated, were met with the same 
cordiality and frankness. This manly and noble course 
pre-eminently distinguished him ; he had a heart full of 
tenderness for his fellow-man, wholly void of selfish pride, 
vanity or cringing adulation. If he, by industry and per- 
severance, gifted by a superior mind, advanced himself 
in social position, he did not lose sight of the great prin- 
ciple ever guiding him, that " all men were created 
equal." 

I called on him in Washington the year of his inaugura- 
tion ; was alone with him for an hour or more ; found him 
greatly changed, his countenance bearing an expression 
of great mental anxiety, and the whole topic of our con- 
versation was the then exist ng civil war, which affected 
him deeply, though he spoke with confidence of the sup- 
pression of the rebellion, rejoicing that so large a portion 
of the people were for using the resources of our country 
to bring back the rebellious States into the Union. Ex- 
amining the map hanging on the wall, pointing out the 
points most strong in the rebel district, he said : " Doug- 
las and myself have studied this map very closely. I 
am indebted to him for wise counsel. I have no better 
adviser, and feel under great obligations to him." I left 
Washington with a feeling our nation had not misplaced 
its confidence in choosing him as its President. Two 
years after I again visited Washington and went to the 
White House to pay my respects to him ; in the ante- 



G. S. HUBBARD. 307 

room was my friend Thos. L. Forrest ; sending in our 
cards, and waiting nearly two hours without seeing him, 
conversing by the window opening upon the fine grounds 
and garden at the rear of the White House. About six 
o'clock the band from the navy yard appeared and began 
to play, when Mr. Forrest said: "This is Saturday, 
when the grounds are open to the public ; the President 
will present himself on the balcony below ; let us join the 
crowd." So we adjourned and filed in with the crowd. 
The President, with Adjutant-Gen. Thomas, were seated 
on the balcony. The crowd was great, marching com- 
pactly past the President, the men raising their hats in 
salutation. As my friend and myself passed he said to me : 
" The President seems to notice you — turn toward him." 
"No," I said, "I don't care to be recognized." At that 
instant Mr. Lincoln started from his seat, advancing 
quickly to the iron railing, and leaning over, beckoning 
with his lonof arm, called : " Hubbard! Hubbard! come 
here." I left the ranks and ascended the stone steps to 
the gate of the balcony, which was locked. Gen. Thomas 
saying : " Wait a moment, I will get the key." " Never 
mind. General," said Mr. Lincoln, " Hubbard is used to 
jumping — he can scale that fence." I climbed over and 
for about an hour we conversed and watched the larofe 
crowd, the rebel flag being in sight on Arlington 
Heights. This was the last time I ever saw his face in 
life, little thinking at the time I should be one of the 
escorts of his honored remains from this city to his last 
resting-place amid the tears of a sorrowing nation. I 
simply mention the circumstance of his calling me to sit 



3o8 G. S. HUBBARD. 

with him, as an evidence of his being unchanged by the 
dignity of his office. I was but an humble citizen, entitled 
to no such notice. It was the Lincoln of olden times un- 
expectedly seeing the familiar face of a friend of former 
years. 

Chicago, 1882. 



E. B. MARTIN DALE. 309 



IF "by his works he be known," he was the greatest 
statesman America ever produced. In less than a 
hundred years his name will be honored and revered above 
that of any other American name. He was a great man 
of the people, and the greatest advocate of universal lib- 
erty — the first President who believed in the letter and 
spirit of the Declaration of Independence. 

Washington, i88a 



3IO SPEECH AT A LADIES' FAIR. 



SPEECH AT A LADIES' FAIR IN WASH- 

INGTON, 

March 21, 1864. 

Ladies and Gentlemen : — I appear to say but a 
word. This extraordinary war in which we are engaged 
falls heavily upon all classes of people, but the most 
heavily upon the soldiers. For it has been said, "All 
that a man hath will he give for his life," and, while all 
contribute of their substance, the soldier puts his life at 
stake, and often yields it up in his country's cause. The 
highest 77ierity Ihen, is due to the soldier. 

In this extraordinary war, extraordinary developments 
have manifested themselves, such as have not been seen 
in former wars ; and, among these manifestations, noth- 
ing has been more remarkable than these fairs for the re- 
lief of suffering soldiers and their families, and the chief 
agents in these fairs are the women of America ! 

I am not accustomed to the use of language of eulogy. 
I have never studied the art of paying compliments to 
women ; but I must say, that, if all that has been said by 
orators and poets since the creation of the world In praise 
of women were applied to the women of America, it 
would not do them justice for their conduct during the 
war. I will close by saying, God bless the women of 
America. 



LEVI P. MORTON— W. S. HANCOCK. 



I HAD only a slight personal acquaintance with Mr. 
Lincoln, but yield to no one in veneration for his 
memory, or admiration for his grand qualities of head 
and heart. 



^^^>^ 



Legation des Etats-Unis d'Amerique, 
Paris, i88i. 



MR. LINCOLN'S history will be "of all time," and 
he will be recalled as one of the grandest figures 
of the world's history. 

Governor's Island, i88i. 



312 LETTER WRITTEN TO A. G. HODGES. 



LETTER WRITTEN TO A. G. HODGES, 

April 4, 1864. 

I ATTEMPT no compliment to my own sagacity. I 
claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly 
that events have controlled me. Now, at the end of 
three years' struggle, the nation's condition is not what 
either party or any man devised or expected. God alone 
can claim it. Whither it is tending seems plain. If God 
now wills the removal of a great wrong, and wills, also, 
that we of the North, as well as you of the South, shall 
pay fairly for our complicity in that wrong, impartial his- 
tory will find therein new causes to attest and revere the 
justice and goodness of God. 



,^Jn/i'tLyfiA^u^ cio^coi^ 



ISAAC M'LELLAN. 313 



When clos'd years since the fratricidal strife, 

One latest victim offer'd up his life, 

That plain, good man, who, with life's parting tone, 

Breath'd charity for all, and malice toward none ; 

So kind, so truthful, modest and sincere, 

Prompt to forgive the injury and the sneer ; 

Brimming with gracious love, for all a smile, 

In whose big heart there was no taint of guile, 

Lamented Lincoln, sacred be his rest ! 

With all his mourning country's honors blest! 

Long will the land his tragic end deplore, 

The noblest martyr when the war was o'er. 

He freed the slave ! No chains now bind his hand. 
All disenthrall'd he proudly walks the land ; 
'Twas Lincoln's voice emancipation gave. 
That snapt the gyves and fetters of the slave, 
Bade him that was a slave be slave no more, 
Free as God's blessed beams from heaven that pour. 



c4^>^ ^"Li^. 



Shelter Island, 1880. 



314 SPEECH AT THE OPENING OF A FAIR. 



SPEECH 

AT THE OPENING OF A FAIR IN BALTIMORE, FOR THE BENE- 
FIT OF THE UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMIS- 
SION, APRIL, 1864. 

Calling it to mind that we are in Baltimore, we can- 
not fail to note that the world moves. Looking upon 
these many people I see assembled here to serve, as they 
best may, the soldiers of the Union, it at once occurs to 
me that three years ago the same soldiers could not so 
much as pass through Baltimore. The change from then 
till now is both great and gratifying. I would say, bless- 
ings upon the men who have wrought the change, and 
the fair women who strive to reward them for it ! 

When the war began, three years ago, neither party nor 
any man expected it would last till now. Each looked for 
the end, in some way, long ere to-day. Neither did any 
anticipate that domestic slavery would be much affected 
by the war. But here we are ; the war has not ended, 
and slavery has been much affected — how much need not 
now be recounted. So true it is that man proposes and 
God disposes. 

The world has never had a good definition of the 
word liberty, and the American people, just now, are 
much in want of one. We all declare for liberty, but in 
using the same ivord we do not all mean the same thing. 
With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do 
as he pleases with himself, and the product of_ his labor ; 



SPEECH AT THE OPENING OF A FAIR. 315 

while to others the same word may mean for some men 
to do as they please with other men, and the product of 
other men's labor. Here are two, not only different, but 
incompatible things, called by the same name, liberty. 
And it follows that each of these things is, by the respect- 
ive parties, called by two different and incompatible 
names — liberty and tyranny. 

The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep's throat, 
for which the sheep thanks the shepherd as a liberator, 
while the wolf denounces him for the same act, as the de- 
stroyer of liberty, especially as the sheep was a black one. 
Plainly, the sheep and the wolf are not agreed upon a 
definition of the word liberty, and precisely the same 
difference prevails to-day among us human creatures, 
even in the North, and all professing to love liberty. 



3i6 REPLY TO A COMMITTEE. 



REPLY TO A COMMITTEE FROM THE 
METHODIST CONFERENCE, 

May 14, 1864. 

Nobly sustained as the Government has been by all 
the churches, I would utter nothing which might in the 
least appear invidious against any. Yet without this it 
may fairly be said that the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
not less devoted than the rest, is, by its greater numbers, 
the most important of all. It is no fault in others that 
the Methodist Church sends more soldiers to the field, 
more nurses to the hospitals, and more prayers to heaven 
than any. God bless the Methodist Church ! bless all the 
churches, and blessed be God ! who in this our great 
trial giveth us the churches. 



WILLIAM C. MOREY. 317 



HE was the true American, at one with the people 
in his origin, his simplicity of character, his 
rugged manliness, and his stern devotion to the cause of 
civil liberty. While he lived, he was the friend of his 
country, and when he died the sense of personal bereave- 
ment darkened every American home. In the supreme 
crisis of American history, his faith in the ultimate 
triumph of popular institutions never failed him. By 
that faith he saved the nation, he widened the bounds of 
human freedom, and he rendered forever sacred those 
principles of government which rest upon justice and the 
equal rights of man. His real epitaph cannot be written. 
It has received its truest expression in the silent memory 
of those great historic deeds with which his name is asso- 
ciated, and which can never, as long as liberty is cherished 
by man, be effaced from the records of time. 

University of Rochester, 1880. 



3i8 HESFONSE. 



RESPONSE TO A DELEGATION OF THE 
NATIONAL UNION LEAGUE. 

I CAN only say, in response to the kind remarks of 
your chairman, as I suppose, that I am very grateful for 
the renewed confidence which has been accorded to me 
both by the Convention and by the National League. I 
am not insensible at all to the personal compliment there 
is in this, and yet I do not allow myself to believe that 
any but a small portion of it is to be appropriated as a 
personal compliment ; that really the Convention and 
the Union League assembled with a higher view — that of 
taking care of the interests of the country for the present 
and the great future — and that the part I am entitled to 
appropriate as a compliment is only that part which I 
may lay hold of as being the opinion of the Convention 
and of the League, that I am not entirely unworthy to be 
intrusted with the place which I have occupied for the 
last three years. But I do not allow myself to suppose 
that either the Convention or the League have concluded 
to decide that I am either the greatest or best man in 
America, but rather they have concluded that it is not 
best to swap horses w^hile crossing the river, and have 
further concluded that I am not so poor a horse that 
they might not make a botch of it in trying to swap. 



p. T. BARNUM. 319 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S cheerfulness and wit were 
invaluable to him in the trying years of our civil 
war. Cheerfulness to a good man or woman is always a 
mighty sustaining power. Mr. Lincoln's unwavering 
faith that good would finally overcome evil buoyed his 
spirits through the darkest hours. Of Mr. Lincoln's in- 
flexible honesty of purpose, there is but one opinion 
throughout the world. He was a noble, whole-souled, 
tender-hearted man. He was a model President of this 
model Republic. His fame is justly immortal. 




Bridgeport, 1880. 



320 SPEECH AT THE PHILADELPHIA PAIR. 



SPEECH AT THE PHILADELPHIA FAIR, 

June i6, 1864. 

War, at the best, is terrible, and this war of ours, in 
its magnitude and in its duration, is one of the most terri- 
ble. It has deranged business totally in many localities, 
and partially in all localities. It has destroyed property 
and ruined homes ; it has produced a national debt and 
taxation unprecedented, at least in this country ; it has 
carried mourning to almost every home, until it can 
almost be said that the "heavens are hung in black." 
Yet the war continues, and several relieving coincidents 
have accompanied it from the very beginning, which have 
not been known, as I understand, or have any knowledge 
of, in any former wars in the history of the world. The San- 
itary Commission, with all its benevolent labors ; the Chris- 
tian Commission, with all its Christian and benevolent 
labors, and the various places, arrangements, so to speak, 
and institutions, have contributed to the comfort and 
relief of the soldiers. 

It is a pertinent question, often asked in the mind 
privately, and from one to the other, " When is the war 
to end?" Surely I feel as deep an interest in this ques- 
tion as any other can, but I do not wish to name a day, a 
month, or a year when it is to end. I do not wish to run 
any risk of seeing the time come, without our being ready 
for the end, for fear of disappointment because the time 
has come and not the end. We accepted this war for an 



SPEECH AT THE FHIEADELPHIA FAIR. 321 

object, a worthy object, and the war will end when that 
object is attained. Under God, I hope it never will end 
until that time. Speaking of the present campaign, 
General Grant is reported to have said, " I am going 
through on this line, if it takes all summer." This war has 
taken three years ; it was begun or accepted upon the 
line of restoring the national authority over the whole 
national domain, and for the American people, as far as 
my knowledge enables me to speak, I say we are going 
through on this line, if it takes three years more. 

I have never been in the habit of making predictions 
in regard to the war, but I am almost tempted to make 
one. If I were to hazard it, it is this : That Grant is 
this evening, with General Meade and General Hancock, 
and the brave officers and soldiers with him, in a position 
from whence he will never be dislodo^ed until Richmond 
is taken. And I have but one single proposition to put 
now, and, perhaps, I can best put it in the form of an in- 
terrogative — If I shall discover that General Grant and 
the noble officers and men under him can be orreater 
facilitated in their work by a sudden pouring forward of 
men and assistance, will you give them to me ? Are you 
ready to march ? [Cries of "yes."] Then, I say, stand 
ready, for I am watching for the chance. 
21 



322 FROM HIS LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE. 



FROM HIS LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE, 

June 27, 1864. 

I AM especially gratified that the soldier and the sea- 
man were not forgotten by the convention, as they for- 
ever must and will be remembered by the grateful coun- 
try for whose salvation they devote their lives. 



1 



O. S. GRANT. 323 



A MAN of great ability, pure patriotism, unselfish 
nature, full of forgiveness to his enemies, bearing 
malice toward none, he proved to be the man above all 
others for the great struggle through which the nation 
had to pass to place itself among the greatest in the 
family of nations. His fame will grow brighter as time 
passes and his great work Is better understood. 




Galena, 1880. 



324 SAVING A LIFE, 



SAVING A LIFE. 

Some of our generals complain that I impair discipline 
and subordination in the army by my pardons and res- 
pites, but it makes me rested, after a day's hard work, 
if I can find some good excuse for saving a man's life ; I 
and I go to bed happy as I think how joyous the signing 
of my name will make him and his family and his friends. 



To WHOM IT MAY CONCERN I 

Any propositions which embrace the restoration of 
peace, the integrity of the whole Unioji, and the abandon- 
ment of slavery, and which come by and with an author- 
ity that can control the armies now at war against the 
United States, will be received and considered by the 
Executive Government of the United States, and will be 
met by liberal terms on other substantial and collateral 
points ; and the bearer or bearers thereof shall have safe 
conduct both ways. 

July i8, 1864. 



Til OS. WENTWORTH HIGGINSON. 325 



PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S " Gettysburg address" 
has always seemed to me the high-water mark of 
American oratory. It proves, what so many have not dis- 
covered, that the highest eloquence is simple. 

Cambridge, 1880. 



326 SPEECH TO A SERENADING CLUB. 



SPEECH 

TO A SERENADING CLUB OF PENNSYLVANIANS ON THE 
NIGHT OF HIS SECOND ELECTION, 1 864. 

Even before I had been informed by you that this 
compliment was paid me by loyal citizens of Pennsylvania 
friendly to me, I had inferred that you were of that 
portion of my countrymen who think that the best 
interests of the nation are to be subserved by the support 
of the present administration. I do not pretend to say 
that you, who think so, embrace all the patriotism and 
loyalty of the country ; but I do believe, and I trust 
without personal interest, that the welfare of the country 
does require that such support and indorsement be given. 
I earnestly believe that the consequences of this day's 
work, if it be as you assume and as now seems probable, 
will be to the lasting advantage, if not to the very salva- 
tion, of the country. I cannot, at this hour, say what 
has been the result of the election ; but whatever it may 
be, I have no desire to modify this opinion : that all who 
have labored to-day in behalf of the Union organization 
have wrought for the best interest of their country and 
the world, not only for the present, but for all future ages. 
/ a7n thajikftd to God for this approval of the people ; but 
while deeply grateful for this mark of their confidence in 
7ne, if I know my heart, my gratitude is free fro77t any 
taint of personal triu77iph. I do not i7npug7i the Tnotives 
of a7iy 07ie opposed to 77ie. It is 7io pleastn^e to 77ie to 
tritimph over a7iy 07ie, but I give thanks to the Almighty 
for this evidence of the peoples resolutio7i to sta7id by free 
gover7ime7it and the 7^ights of humanity. 



BENSON J. LOS SING. 327 



MR. LINCOLN A STATESMAN. 

rHERE is a popular impression that the wise states- 
manship displayed by our national government 
during the late civil war, in its foreign relations, was al- 
most wholly due to the direction of the intellect and judg- 
ment of Secretary Seward, It is attested, on the contrary, 
by persons supposed to have knowledge of some of the 
secrets of the Cabinet of President Lincoln, that some of 
the wisest acts of statesmanship that marked the career of 
Mr. Seward in his intercourse with foreign governments, 
during the administration of Mr. Lincoln, were inspired by 
the suggestions of the President. In support of the latter 
position, a single incident may suffice, which came under 
the observation of the writer. It had relation to perhaps 
the most delicate question of right which arose between 
the United States and Great Britain during that war. 
The incident was the surrender of Mason and Slidell, 
Confederate ambassadors to European courts. 

The writer was in Washington when the news reached 
there of the capture of those two arch-conspirators against 
the life of the republic, by Captain Wilkes, commander of 
the national steam sloop-of-war San Jacinto, whom he had 
forcibly taken from the British mail steamer Ti^eiit. The 
act of Captain Wilkes was universally applauded by all 
loyal Americans, and the land was filled with rejoicings 
because two of the most mischievous men among the 
enemies of the Government were in custody. For the 



328 BENSON J. LOS SING. 

moment, men did not stop to consider the law or the ex- 
pediency involved in the act. Public honors were 
tendered to Captain Wilkes, and resolutions of thanks 
were passed by public bodies. The Secretary of the 
Navy wrote him a congratulatory letter on the "great 
public services " he had rendered in " capturing the rebel 
emissaries, Mason and Slidell," and assured him that his 
conduct had " the emphatic approval of the department." 
The House of Representatives tendered him their thanks 
for the service he had done. But there was one thought- 
ful man in the nation, in whom was vested the tremen- 
dous executive power of the republic at that time, and 
whose vision was constantl)^ endeavoring to explore the 
mysteries of the near future, who had indulged calmer 
and wiser thoughts than most men at that critical mo- 
ment, because his feelings v/ere kept in subjection to his 
judgment by a sense of heavy responsibility. That man 
was Abraham Lincoln. 

The writer was in the office of the Secretary of War 
when the telegraphic dispatch announcing the capture of 
Mason and Slidell was brought in and read. He can 
never forget the scene that ensiied. Led by Secretary 
Stanton, who was followed by Governor Andrew of 
Massachusetts, and others who were present, cheer 
after cheer was heartily given by the company. A little 
later, the writer, accompanied by the late Elisha 
Whittlesey, then the venerable First Comptroller of the 
Treasury, was favored with a brief interview with the 
President, when the clear judgment of that far-seeing and 
sagacious statesman uttered through his lips the words 



BEiYSON J. LOSS IN G. 



3^9 



which formed the suggestion of and the key-note to the 
judicious action of the Secretary of State afterwards. 

" I fear the traitors will prove to be white elephants," 
said Mr. Lincoln. " We must stick to American princi- 
ples concerning the rights of neutrals," he continued. " We 
fought Great Britain for insisting, by theory and practice, 
on the right to do just what Captain Wilkes has just 
done. If Great Britain shall now protest against the act 
and demand their release, we must give them up, apolo- 
gize for the act as a violation of our doctrines, and thus 
forever bind her over to keep the peace in relation to 
neutrals, and so acknowledge that she has been wrong 
for sixty years." 

Great Britain did protest and make the demand, also 
made preparations for war against the United States at 
the same moment. On the same day when Lord John 
Russell sent the protest and demand to Lord Lyons, the 
British minister at Washington, Secretary Seward for- 
warded a dispatch to Minister Adams in London, inform- 
ing him that this Government disclaimed the act of 
Captain Wilkes, and giving assurance that it was ready to 
make a satisfactory arrangement of all difficulties arising 
out of the unauthorized act. These dispatches passed 
each other in mid-ocean. 

The Government, in opposition to popular sentiment, 
decided at once to restore Mason and Slidell to the pro- 
tection of the British flag. It was soon afterwards done, 
war between the two nations was averted, and, in the 
language of President Lincoln, the British Government 
was " forever bound to keep the peace in relation to 
neutrals." 



330 



BENSON J. LOS SING. 



The wise statesmanship exhibited at that critical time 
was originated by Abraham Lincoln. 




Dover Plains, 1882. 



I 



6". G. BARNES— J. M. BAILEY. 331 



THE right man in the right place was never more 
clearly seen than in the story of President Lin- 
coln. His simplicity and humor, his patient wisdom and 
hopeful courage, his conspicuous integrity and universal 
charity made him by all odds the most impressive figure 
of our dark days. And coming years can only make more 
tender the affection and more profound the reverence 
which his own age has been proud to give to the savior 
of his country. 



1880. 




IT must be confessed that Mr. Lincoln's early life gave 
no promise of the power he showed at the head of 
the nation ; but I believe he was born for the emergency, 
and when it came I am confident that of the three in- 
terested — the emergency, Mr. Lincoln, and the American 
public — the emergency was the most completely aston- 
ished. It is my humble judgment that in all the positions 
the great crisis forced him into he was a perfect fit. 



Daneury, 1882. 




332 AnDKESS TO THE POLITICAL CLUBS. 



ADDRESS TO THE POLITICAL CLUBS. 

It has long been a grave question whether any 
government not too strong for the Hberties of its people 
can be strong enough to maintain its existence in great 
emerorencies. 

On this point the present rebellion has brought our 
republic to a severe test, and a presidential election 
occurrinof in resfular course durino; the rebellion, has 
added not a little to the strain. If the loyal people, 
united, were put to the utmost of their strength by the 
rebellion, must they not fail when divided and partially 
paralyzed by a political war among themselves. ? 

But the election was a necessity. We cannot have a 
free government without elections ; and if the rebellion 
could force us to forego or postpone a national election, 
it might fairly claim to have already conquered and 
ruined us. 

The strife of the election is but human nature prac- 
tically applied to the facts in the case. What has oc- 
curred in this case must ever recur in similar cases. 
Human nature will not change. In any future great 
national trial, compared with the men who have passed 
through this, we shall have as weak and as strong, as 
silly and as wise, as bad and as good. Let us therefore 
study the incidents of this as philosophy to learn wisdom 
from, and none of them as wrongs to be revenged. 

While I am deeply sensible to the high compliment 



ADDRESS TO THE POLITICAL CLUBS. m 

of a re-election, and duly grateful, as I trust, to Almighty 
God for having directed my countrymen to a right con- 
clusion, as I think, for their own good, it adds nothing 
to my satisfaction that any other man may be dis- 
appointed or pained by the result. May I ask those 
who have not differed with me to join with me in this 
same spirit towards those who have ? 



334 INTERVIEW WITH A GENTLEMAN, 



INTERVIEW WITH A GENTLEMAN. 

There have been men base enough to propose to me 
to return to slavery the black warriors of Port Hudson 
and Olustee, and thus win the respect of the masters they 
fought. Should I do so, I should deserve to be damned 
in time and eternity. Come what will, I will keep my 
faith with friend and foe. My enemies pretend I am 
now carrying on this war for the sole purpose of aboli- 
tion. So long as I am President, it shall be carried on 
for the sole purpose of restoring the Union. But no 
human power can subdue this rebellion without the use 
of the emancipation policy, and every other policy cal- 
culated to weaken the moral and physical forces of the 
rebellion. 

August, 1864. 



JAMES SHRIGLEY. 335 



MY first visit with Mr. Lincoln was a few days before 
he issued his Emancipation Proclamation, when I 
was introduced by the Hon. John Covode. The President 
was walking his room, apparently under great excitement, 
and spoke to Mr. Covode in nearly the following words, 
which made a deep impression on my mind : " I have 
studied that matter well ; my mind is made up — it imist 
be done. I am driven to it. There is to me no other 
way out of our troubles. But although my duty is plain, 
it is in some respects painful, and I trust the people will 
understand that I act not in anger, but in expectation of 
a greater good." These few words revealed to me some 
of the noble attributes of his nature. " I do it not in 
anger, but in expectation of a greater good." Nothing 
but the honest sense of duty could have induced him to 
issue that proclamation, and this he desired the people to 
know, that his motives might not be misunderstood. No 
man was ever more free from the spirit of revenge or 
more conscientious in the discharge of his duties. Pres- 
ident Lincoln was also remarkably tolerant. He was 
the friend of all, and never, to my knowledge, gave the 
influence of his great name to encourage sectarianism in 
any of its names or forms; he had "charity for all and 
malice toward none." 

The following is in proof. Immediately after the 
earliest battles of the war most of the sick and wounded 
were brought to the Philadelphia hospitals for treatment, 
and I was in daily receipt of letters from my denomina- 



336 JAMES SHRIGLEY. 

tional friends solicitin(y me to visit husbands and brothers 
who were amono; the sick and wounded. As much of 
my time was thus occupied, and at considerable expense, 
it was suggested by the Hon, Henry D. Moore that 
apphcation be made for the position of hospital chaplain, 
and it was on the recommendation of Mr. Moore and 
Governor Curtin that the President made the nomination. 
Soon as it was announced in the papers that my name 
had been sent to the Senate for confirmation a self-con- 
stituted committee of "Young Christians "(?) consulted 
with a few others, as bigoted as themselves, and volun- 
teered their services to visit Washington and try to induce 
the President to withdraw the name. It so happened 
that when these gentlemen called on the President Mr. 
Covode was present and made known the interview to a 
reporter, and it thus became public. It was in substance 
as follows : 

THE INTERVIEW. 

"We have called, Mr. President, to confer with you 
in regard to the appointment of Mr. Shrigley, of Phila- 
delphia, as hospital chaplain." 

The President responded : " Oh, yes, gentlemen ; I 
have sent his name to the Senate, and he will no doubt 
be confirmed at an early day." 

One of the young men replied : " We have not come 
to ask for the appointment, but to solicit you to with- 
draw the nomination." 

"Ah," said Lincoln, "that alters the case; but on 
what ground do you wish the nomination withdrawn ?" 

The answer was, "Mr. Shrigley is not sound in his 
theological opinions." 



JAMES SHRIGLEY. 337 

The President inquired : " On what question is the 
o-entleman unsound ?" 

o 

Response. — " He does not beHeve in endless punish- 
ment ; not only so, sir, but he believes that even the 
rebels themselves will finally be saved." 

" Is that so ?" inquired the President. 

The members of the committee both responded, 
"Yes," "Yes." 

"Well, gentlemen, if that be so, and there is any way 
under heaven whereby the rebels can be saved, then, for 
God's sake and their sakes, let the man be appointed." 

And he was appointed, and served until the war 
closed. In relation to this matter the Hon. John Covode 
wrote Hon. Henry D. Moore as follows : 

"Washington, 29th January, 1863. 
" Dear Sir : Your friend Mr. Shrigley's appointment 
was sent to the Senate on the 22d inst. It gives me 
pleasure to think that I have been able to aid you in 
this matter. 

" Truly yours, John Covode. 

" P. S. — Believing that both you and I, after our long 
public services, will be benefited by our friend's prayers, 
I hope we shall have them. 

"J. C." 




cr 



Philadelphia, 1882. 
00, 



338 LETTER TO MRS. GURNEY. 

LETTER TO MRS. ELIZA R GURNEY. 

I HAVE not forgotten, probably never shall forget, the 
very impressive occasion when yourself and friends 
visited me on a Sabbath forenoon two years ago. Nor 
shall your kind letter, v/rltten nearly a year later, ever be 
forgotten. In all it has been your purpose to strengthen 
my reliance in God. I am much indebted to the good 
Christian people of the country for their constant prayers 
and consolations, and to no one of them more than to 
yourself. The purposes of the Almighty are perfect and 
must prevail, though we erring mortals may fail to ac- 
curately perceive them in advance. We hoped for a^ 
happy termination of this terrible war long before this, 
but God knows best, and has ruled otherwise. We shall 
yet acknowledge his wisdom and our own errors therein ; 
meanwhile we must work earnestly in the best light he 
gives us, trusting that so working still conduces to the 
great ends he ordains. Surely he intends some great 
good to follow this mighty convulsion, which no mortal 
could make, and no mortal could stay. Your people, 
the Friends, have had, and are having, very great trials, 
on principles and faith opposed to both war and oppres- 
sion, they can only practically oppose oppression by 
war. In this hard dilemma, some have chosen one horn 
and some the other. For those appealing to me on 
conscientious grounds I have done and shall do the best 
I could and can in my own conscience, under my oath to 
the law. That you believe this I doubt not, and believe 
I shall still receive for my country and myself your 
earnest prayers to our Father in heaven. 

September, 1864. 



CECIL F, P. BANCROFT— ASA GRAY. 339 



THE greatness of the man appears not so much in 
his courage, his patience, his vigilance, his 
loyalty, his equanimity, his faith in God and man, as in 
that mstinct of timeliness y^\i\QX\ led him unerringly to seize 
upon the great opportunity at its very full. In this re- 
spect he stands without a peer. 



Un^cZ^ r- L ^^(U^^s^ 



Phillips Academy, i88c. 



T 



HE typical American, pure and simple. 




1880. 



340 REPLY TO A COMMITTEE, 



REPLY 

TO A COMMITTEE OF LOYAL COLORED PEOPLE OF BALTI- 
MORE, PRESENTING THE PRESIDENT WITH A BIBLE 
COSTING $580. 

I CAN only say now, as I have often said before, that 
it has always been a sentiment with me that all mankind 
should be free. So far as I have been able, or so far as 
came within my sphere, I have always acted as I believed 
was right and just, and have done all I could for the 
good of mankind. I have in letters and documents sent 
forth from this office expressed myself better than I can 
now. In regard to the Great Book I have only to say 
that it is the best Qrift which God has o^iven man. All 
the good from the Saviour of the world is communicated 
to us throuo^h this book. But for this book we could not 
know right from wrong. All those things desirable to 
man are contained in it. 

October, 1864. 



G. T. BEDELL. 341 



AS the best contribution which I can make, is the fol- 
lowing extract from a letter by the late Rt. Rev. 
Charles P. Mcllvaine, D.D., D.C.L., who knew Mr. Lin- 
coln well, and was brought into official relations with him. 
He mourned for him, not only as I do for a great presi- 
dent, but for a personal friend. 

" The man, so wise, so pure, of such simplicity, such 
inflexible determination to the right, who had done so 
well in duties and times beyond precedent difficult ; who 
had gone on winning the confidence, admiration and love 
of all classes, till there seemed no more to gain ; just fin- 
ishing his great work, just about to reap the harvest of 
all his toil, just showing how moderate and wise and ten- 
der he was going to be, cut down by an assassin ! Oh, 
how it has smitten the nation's heart !" 

Responding with all my heart to such an estimate of 
the character of President Lincoln. 

Cleveland, 1882. 



542 REMARKS TO A NEW YORK REGIMENT. 



REMARKS TO THE 189TH NEW YORK REGL 

MENT. 

It Is said that we have the best Government thi^ 
world ever knew, and I am glad to meet you, the sup- 
porters of that Government. To you, who rendered the 
hardest work in its support, should be given the greatest 
credit. Others who are connected with it, and who 
occupy higher positions, their duties can be dispensed 
with ; but we cannot get along without your aid. While 
others differ with the Administration, and, perhaps, 
honestly, the soldiers generally have sustained it ; they 
have not only fought right, but, so far as could be judged 
from their actions, they have voted right, and I for onfj 
thank you for it. 

October 24, 1864. 



PV. jB. hazen. 



343 



MR. LINCOLN was one of those singular men 
whom the great unknown power brings upon 
the scenes of men's actions when momentous events are 
about to transpire. Lincoln, more than any man ex- 
cept Washington, came forward to lead successfully the 
grand advance of human rights and progress, growing out 
of the development of the new continent, America. 
That he was all that his best admirers can claim, is abun- 
dantly shown by what he did, and the judgment of the 
world upon it. 




Washington, 1882. 



344 SPEECH TO THE iG^TH OHIO. 



SPEECH TO THE 164TH OHIO. 

There is more involved in this contest than is realized 
by every one. There is involved in this struggle the 
question whether your children and my children shall 
enjoy the privileges we have enjoyed. I say this in 
order to impress upon you, if you are not already so im- 
pressed, that no small matter should divert you from our 
great purpose. There may be some inequalities in the 
practical application of our system. It is fair that each 
man shall pay taxes in exact proportion to the value of 
his property ; but if we should wait before collecting a 
tax to adjust the taxes upon each man in exact proportion 
with every other man, we should never collect any tax at 
all. There may be mistakes made. Sometimes things 
may be done wrong, while the officers of the Government 
do all they can to prevent mistakes ; but I beg of you, as 
citizens of this great republic, not to let your minds be 
carried off from the great work we have before us. 

The struggle is too large for you to be diverted from 
it by any small matter. When you return to your 
homes, rise up to the dignity of a generation of men 
worthy of a free Government, and we will carry out the 
work we have commenced. 



JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE. 345 



I ONCE had a long day's talk about Abraham Lin- 
coln with a friend in Kentucky, Joshua F. Speed, 
who had lived in intimate relation with Lincoln when he 
was a young lawyer in Springfield, just beginning busi- 
ness. He said that every case he had took his whole in- 
terest and attention. Once he had to arofue a case in 
which all depended on finding the right boundary for a 
piece of land on the prairie. There are no stones there 
for boundaries, and few trees, so the surveyors were in 
the habit of fixing the corners of the lots by shoveling 
up a little heap of earth. But it happened that a prairie 
squirrel, or gopher, does the same thing. Hence it be- 
comes important to distinguish between the mounds made 
by the surveyor and those made by the gopher. Lincoln 
sent to New York to get books to tell him of the habits of 
the gopher, brought them into court, showed the judge 
and jury how the gopher built his mound, how it differed 
from that of the surveyor, and after he had won his case, 
sat up late in the night still studying about the gopher, 
so as to be sure he knew all about him. 




Boston, 1882. 



346 REPLY TO A COMPANY OF CLERGYMEN. 



REPLY TO A COMPANY OF CLERGYMEN. 

Gentlemen: — My hope of success in this great and 
terrible struggle rests on that immutable foundation, the 
justice and goodness of God. And when events are very 
threatening and prospects very dark, I still hope in some 
way, which man cannot see, all will be well in the end, 
because our cause is just and God is on our side. 



JAMES E. MURDOCH, 347 



I FIRST made Mr. Lincoln's acquaintance in i860, 
while in Springfield, III, on professional business. 
We met in the studio of my friend Mr. Thomas Jones, 
the sculptor, who was at that time modeling Mr. Lincoln's 
bust. The circumstances were favorable to a conversa- 
tion on literary subjects, and I was charmed with the 
earnestness and originality exhibited in Mr. Lincoln's 
remarks and criticisms. His clear insiofht into character- 
ization was apparent in the expression of his conception 
of the personalities of Falstaff and old Weller, who 
seemed to be especial favorites with him. He regarded 
old Weller as a sort of stage-coach embodiment or type 
of the Fat Kni^jht, the latter beingr a tavern reflection, as 
it were, of the velvet-and-brocade or court side of wit and 
humor, and the other the familiar or road-side phase or 
expression of it ; but both suggestive of " the cap-and- 
bel/s" and furnishing the materials for wholesome merri- 
ment. Speaking of Dickens, he said that his works of 
fiction were so near the reality that the author seemed to 
him to have picked up his materials from actual life as he 
elbowed his way through its crowded thoroughfares, after 
the manner, in a certain sense, of Shakespeare himself. 
As there was but little of the metaphysical or speculative 
element in Mr. Lincoln's mind, though strong in practical 
philosophy, common sense, and clear moral intuitions, it 
was not difficult to understand and appreciate the pref- 
erence he expressed, on this occasion, for the speech ol 
King Claudius : " Oh ! my offense is rank and smells to 



348 . JAMES E. MURDOCH. 

heaven," over Hamlet's philosophical " To be or not tc 
be." He expressed a wonder that actors should have 
laid so much stress on the thought contained in the latter 
soliloquy, and passed with such comparative indifference 
over the soul-searching expressions of the king, uttered 
under the stings of self-accusation. " The former," said 
Mr. Lincoln, " is merely a philosophical reflection on the 
question of life and death, without actual reference to a 
future judgment ; while the latter is a solemn acknowl- 
edgment of inevitable punishment hereafter, for the in- 
fraction of divine law. Let any one reflect on the moral 
tone of the two soliloquies, and there can be no mistak- 
ing the force and grandeur of the lesson taught by one, 
and the merely speculative consideration in the other, of 
an alternative for the ills that flesh is heir to," It was 
very plain how such a mind as his could not fail to be 
forcibly struck with the truth and grandeur of the follow- 
ing lines : 

"In the corrupted currents of this world. 
Offense's gilded hand may shove by justice ; 
And oft 'tis seen, the wicked prize itself 
Buys out the law. But 'tis not so above ; 
There is no shuffling ; there the action lies 
In his true nature ; and we ourselves compelled, 
Even to the teeth and forehead of our faults, 
To give in evidence." 

The conversation turned upon the political condition 
of the country (it was at the troubled period just previous 
to Mr. Lincoln's inauguration) and he spoke upon the sub- 
ject plainly and without hesitation. So deeply was I im- 
pressed with his hope and faith for the future of the 



JAMES E. MURDOCH. . 349 

country and the ultimate triumph of right and justice in 
its affairs, that glowed in the fervor of his simple and un- 
affected language, and beamed from his benevolent 
features, that I lost sight of all the previous impressions 
that his reputed story-telling proclivities and his broad 
witticisms had made upon me ; I saw only the man — as the 
whole world learned to know him — in whom the sacred 
principles of eternal justice and human rights were to find 
an honest and unflinching champion in the bitter hours 
of trial and affliction. 

I will simply add a few words in this connection 
with regard to the mirthful element of Mr. Lincoln's 
character. It has too frequently been misunderstood and 
unjustly censured. The following anecdote furnishes us 
an instance of the slight ground upon v/hich rested many 
of the charges made against Mr. Lincoln, of undignified 
conduct and heartless expressions upon serious and 
even solemn occasions. The incident was related to me 
by one who stood at the President's side at the time of 
its occurrence. One day, a detachment of troops was 
marchine alonof the avenue sinorinof the soul-stirringr 
strain of " John Brown." They were walled in on either 
side by throngs of citizens and strangers, whose voices 
mingled in the roll of the mighty war-song. In the midst 
of this excitine scene, a man had clambered into a small 
tree, on the side-walk, where he clung, unmindful of the 
jeers of the passing crowd, called forth by the strange 
antics he was unconsciously exhibiting in his efforts to 
overcome the swaying motion of the slight stem which 
bent beneath his weight. Mr. Lincoln's attention was 
attracted for a moment, and he paused in the serious 



350 JAMES E. MURDOCH. 

conversation in which he was deeply interested and in an 
abstracted manner, yet with a droll cast of the eye, and a 
nod of the head in the direction of the man, he repeated, 
in his dry and peculiar utterance, the following old- 
fashioned couplet : 

" And Zaccheous he, did climb a tree, 
His Lord and Master, for to see — " 

Amid the lauo^hter of those who had observed the in- 
congruity of the scene, Mr. Lincoln resumed the serious 
tone of his remarks, as if nothing unusual had happened. 
And yet, said my informant, I have heard him charged, in 
connection with this incident, with a want of proper feel- 
ing, and even with turning sacred subjects into ridicule. 
It was evident, said he, that Mr. Lincoln did not employ 
the quotation in a spirit of levity. It was but an uncon- 
scious exhibition of the mirthful tendency — or, perhaps, 
more correctly speaking — necessity of the man's nature. 
He seemed, as it were, to instinctively select the old-time, 
ballad-like couplet, from among the mass of quaint and 
home-spun verse with which his memory was stored, 
more from the sing-song tone of its jingling rhyme, 
which perhaps suggested a likeness to the swinging mo- 
tion of the man before him, than from any intent to ridi- 
cule the verses or its allusion to sacred history. It may 
be that such freaks of fancy were the unpremeditated 
make-weights by which an over-strained mental activity 
was prevented from taxing the brain too constantly. 

He who can, for a moment, believe that Mr. Lincoln 
gave utterance to such an expression in a spirit of levity, 
or could utter a heartless jest, in the midst of a scene 



[AMES E. MURDOCH. 351 

calculated to arouse all the interest and enthusiasm of the 
mind, and stir every deep and impassioned feeling of the 
heart, by its grandly solemn surroundings, and inevitably 
terrible consequences, does not understand the character 
of Abraham Lincoln. Those soldiers and their imper- 
iled lives ; the destinies of the cause they were throng- 
ing to the front to defend; the fortunes of the families 
they left behind ; the bloodshed, misery and suffering in 
store for the nation ; all this was crowding upon his brain 
and throbbinor in his heart, with as much intensified 
sympathy and soul-harrowing foreboding as ever wrung 
the heart of wife or mother, when called upon to sur- 
render a loved son or a husband to the cause of free- 
dom. 

The following incident is but one of many instances 
of his personal sufferings in the general cause. Having 
called upon Mr. Lincoln on one occasion during the war, 
by special appointment, at 9 o'clock in the morning, I was 
shown into a private room. When the President appeared 
I was surprised to find him in a state of intensified grief 
and nervous excitement, the very embodiment of woe, the 
alternate fever and cold of his hand, and his whole physi- 
cal being, indicating an overstrained condition, attendant 
upon mental and physical agitation and suffering. After 
a few passing remarks the cause of his condition was ex- 
plained, when I learned from his lips, for the first time, 
the news of our defeat at Chancellorville. I shall never 
forget the kindly and grateful expression of his face when 
I stated the fact that, not being aware of the disaster 
when I came, I felt the propriety of deferring the occa- 



352 JAMES E. MURDOCH, 

slon of our interview to some more fittinof time. Receiv- 
ing an earnest pressure of the hand, and a fervent " God 
bless you," I left the presence of one whom I felt to be 
indeed bowed down under the burden of a nation's 
affliction. And yet, strange as it may appear to those of 
a different temperament, Mr. Lincoln could, as he cer- 
tainly did on many an occasion, by force of will, subdue 
the heart-throb, crush back the rising tear, and turn his 
thoughts in other channels, molding his features to ex- 
pression of indifference or mirth. This same " levity," 
as some white-haired sinners of his day called it, was 
often the " nice fence," with which he foiled the more 
serious thrusts made by his opponents, and as such served 
his purpose, perhaps better than other means might have 
done. 

Those who knew Mr. Lincoln and loved the man had 
cause to look through and over such peculiarities, content 
with an appreciation of the more sterling qualities which 
generously and thoroughly pervaded his nature. What 
was said of Thomas Fuller, the facetious, though devout 
old preacher, who lived in the troublous times of Charles 
the First, may be as truly said of Mr. Lincoln : " He 
was endowed with that happy buoyancy of spirit which, 
next to religion itself, is the most precious possession of 
man." Untiring humor seemed the ruling passion of his 
soul ; quaintly and facetiously he thought, wrote and 
spoke, preferring ever a jocose expression even in his 
gravest moments. 

With a heart open to all innocent pleasure and 
purged from the leaven of malice and uncharitableness, 



JAMES E. MURDOCH. 353 

It was as natural that he should be as full of mirth as 
it is for the grasshopper to chirp, or bees to hum, or 
birds to warble in the spring breeze and the bright sun- 
shine. 

Cincinnati, 1882. 

23 



354 SPEECH TO AN OHIO REGIMENT. 



SPEECH TO THE 148™ OHIO REGIMENT. 

It is vain and foolish to arraign this man or that for 
the part he has taken or has not taken, and to hold the 
Government responsible for his acts. In no administra- 
tion can there be perfect equality of action and uniform 
satisfaction rendered by all. 

But this Government must be preserved in spite of the 
acts of any man or set of men. It is worthy your every 
effort. Nowhere in the world is presented a Govern- 
ment of so much liberty and equality. To the humblest 
and poorest amongst us are held out the highest privi- 
leges and positions. The present moment finds me at 
the White House, yet there is as good a chance for your 
children as there was for my father's. Again I admonish 
3'ou not to be turned from your stern purpose of defend- 
ing our beloved country and its free institutions by any 
arguments urged by ambitious and designing men, but 
stand fast to the Union and the old flag. 



CHARLES FOSTER.— HAMILTON FISH. 355 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S name ranks with the pur- 
xV est of men, the wisest of statesmen, the most 
sincere and devoted patriot, the loveliest character of 
American statesmen. 

Columbus, 1880. 



J 



USTUM ac tenacem propositi virum 
Non civium ardor prava jubentium 
Non vLiltus instantis tyranni, 
Mente quatit solida." 

Horace. 



" With malice toward none, with charity to all, with 
firmness in the right." 

Lincoln. 




New York, ,1880. 



356 REMARKS AT THE WHITE HOUSE. 



REMARKS TO A SERENADING PARTY AT 
THE WHITE HOUSE. 

I AM notified that this is a compHment paid to me by 
the loyal Marylanders resident in this District. I infer 
that the adoption of the new Constitution for the State 
furnishes the occasion, and that, in your view, the extir- 
pation of slavery constitutes the chief merit of the new 
Constitution. 

Most heartily do I congratulate you and Maryland, and 
the nation, and the world upon the event, I regret that 
it did not occur two years sooner ; which, I am sure, 
would have saved to the nation more money than would 
have met all the private loss incident to the measure. 
But it has come at last, and I sincerely hope its friends 
may fully realize all their anticipations of good from it, 
and that its opponents may, by its effects, be agreeably 
and profitably disappointed. A word upon another sub- 
ject. Something said by the Secretary of State, in his 
recent speech at Auburn, has been construed by some into 
a threat that, if I shall be beaten at the election, I will, 
between then and the end of my constitutional term, do 
what I may be able to ruin the Government. Others 
regard the fact that the Chicago Convention adjourned 
not sine die, but to meet again, if called to do so by a 
particular individual, as the intimation of a purpose that 
if their nominee shall be elected he will at once seize the 
control of the Government. I hope the good people will 
permit themselves to suffer no uneasiness on this point. 



REMARKS AT THE WHITE HOUSE. 357 

I am struggling to maintain the Government, not to 
overthrow it ; I am strugghng especially to prevent others 
from overthrowing .it. I therefore say that, if I shall 
live, I shall remain President until the fourth of next 
March, and that whoever shall be constitutionally elected 
therefor, in November, shall be duly installed as Presi- 
dent on the fourth of March, and that, in the interval, I 
shall do my utmost that whoever is to hold the helm for 
the next voyage shall start with the best possible chance 
to save the ship. This is due the people both on 
principle and under the Constitution. Their will, con- 
stitutionally expressed, is the ultimate law for all. If 
they should deliberately resolve to have immediate peace, 
even at the loss of their country and their liberties, I 
have not the power or the right to resist them. It is 
their own business, and they must do as they please with 
their own ; I believe, however, they are still resolved to 
preserve their country and their liberty ; and, in this 
office or out, I am resolved to stand by them. I may 
add, that in this purpose to save the country and its 
liberties no class of people seem so nearly unanimous as 
the soldiers in the field and seamen afloat. Do they not 
have the hardest of it ? Who should quail while they do 
not ? God bless the soldiers and seamen, with all their 
brave commanders ! 

October 19, 1864. 



358 OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. 



OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. 

The President, Commander-in-Chief of the Army 
and Navy, desires and enjoins the orderly observance of 
the Sabbath by the officers and men in the miHtary and 
naval service. The importance to man and beast of the 
prescribed weekly rest, the sacred rights of Christian 
soldiers and sailors, a becoming deference to the best 
sentiment of Christian people, and a due regard for the 
Divine Will, demand that Sunday labor in the army and 
navy be reduced to the measure of strict necessity. The 
discipline and character of the national forces should not 
suffer, nor the cause they defend be imperiled, by the 
profanation of the day or name of the Most High. " At 
the time of public distress," adopting the words of 
Washington in 1776, "men may find enough to do in the 
service of their God and their country without abandon- 
ing themselves to vice and immorality." The first 
general order issued by the Father of his Country after 
the Declaration of Independence indicates the spirit in 
which our institutions were founded and should ever be 
defended : " The General hopes and trusts that eve^y 
officer and i7tan will endeavor to live and act as becomes a 
Christia7i soldier defending the dearest rights and liberties 
of his country" 





November 16, 1864. 



HENRY S. FRIEZE.— CYRUS IV. FIELD. 359 



THE name of Abraham Lincoln will not grow dim 
with age, like many names brilliant in their own 
day, yet fading with the lapse of time. But that name 
will shine with ever-increasing luster, as the results of 
his public life and services shall be more clearly mani- 
fested in the increasing greatness of his country, which, 
without his wise leadership, aided by faithful counselors, 
would have been dissolved into clusters of insignificant 
states, forever at war and forever weak. 



1880. 



/u/it^j b\ fy-uiyyi^ 



LINCOLN — the statesman, the emancipator, the 
martyr, whose services to his country will be re- 
membered with those of Washington. 

New York, 1880. 



360 LETTER TO MRS. BIXBY. 



LETTER TO MRS. BIXBY OF BOSTON. 

I HAVE been shown on the file of the War Depart- 
ment a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massa- 
chusetts, that you are the mother of five sons who have 
died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak 
and fruitless must be any word of mine which should 
attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so over 
whelming ; but I cannot refrain from tendering to you 
the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the 
republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly 
Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavements, 
and leave only the cherished memory of the loved and 
lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have 
laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom. 

November 21, 1864. 



M^. O. BRADLEY. 361 



NO man has so happily blended in his character child- 
like simplicity with true greatness and nobility, 
and combined so great a degree of tenderness with lofty 
and unflinching courage, as the lamented Lincoln. The 
energy and perseverance that enabled him to overcome 
the poverty and obscurity which enshrouded his youth 
eminently qualified him to encounter and surmount the 
colossal difficulties that environed his administration. 
His strong common sense, undaunted patriotism, and 
wise statesmanship have left an impress on our institu- 
tions which will never be effaced so long as this is free- 
dom's home ; and their influence shall not be felt here 
alone, but throughout the civilized world, for centuries 
to come. 

He has taken and will hold rank in history with the 
purest and most illustrious of mankind. Admiring coun- 
trymen have erected a noble shaft to mark his last rest- 
ing-place, while in their heart of hearts they have builded 
a mausoleum that will successfully defy the devouring 
tooth of time ; but surpassing these is the monument 
erected by his philanthropic statesmanship, of manacles 
torn from the limbs of four million slaves. 




Lancaster, 1882. 



362 REMARKS FROM TO A DELEGATION, 



REMARKS TO A DELEGATION FROM OHIO. 

I AM very much obliged to you for this compHment. 
I have just been saying, and as I have just said it, I will 
repeat it : The hardest of all speeches which I have to 
answer is a serenade. I never knew what to say on such 
occasions. I suppose that you have done me this kind- 
ness in connection with the action of the Baltimore Con- 
vention, which has recently taken place, and with which, 
of course, I am very well satisfied. What we want still 
more than Baltimore Conventions or Presidential Elec- 
tions is success under General Grant. I propose that you 
constantly bear in mind that the support you owe to the 
brave officers and soldiers in the field is of the very first 
importance, and we should, therefore, bend all our energies 
to that point. Now, without detaining you any longer, 
I propose that you help me to close up what I am now 
saying with three rousing cheers for General Grant and 
the officers and soldiers under his command. 



F. E. SPINNER. 363 



FROM our official and social relations, for over four 
years, I had abundant opportunity to know Mr. 
Lincoln well. I have been a student of human nature 
and character all my life, and of all the men that have 
ever challenged my attention, I have never found Mr. 
Lincoln's equal ; possessing the simplicity of a child, and 
the tenderness of a woman, he combined, in his make-up, 
all the sterner qualities of a perfect man. A close 
observer of men, measures and events, and with a dis- 
criminating mind that led to a correct judgment, was 
added a conscientiousness of the right and a moral 
courage to do it, that enabled him to execute his honest 
convictions of all the political and social duties that were 
required of him as a man and a magistrate. 




Jacksonville, 1881. 



364 FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, 



FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE 

TO CONGRESS, DECEMBER 6tH, 1 864. 

The most remarkable feature in the military opera- 
tions of the year is General Sherman's attempted march 
of three hundred miles directly through the insurgent 
region. It tends to show a Q^reat Increase of our relative 
strength that our General-in-Chief should feel able to 
confront and hold in check every active force of the enemy, 
and yet to detach a well-appointed large army to move 
on such an expedition. The result not yet being known, 
conjecture in regard to it is not here indulged. 

Important movements have also occurred during the 
year to the effect of molding society for durability In 
the Union. Although short of complete success, it is 
much in the riorht direction that twelve thousand citizens 
in each of the States of Arkansas and Louisiana have 
organized loyal State governments, with free constitu- 
tions, and are earnestly struggling to maintain and ad- 
minister them. The movements in the same direction — 
more extensive, though less definite — in Missouri, 
Kentucky, and Tennessee should not be overlooked. 
But Maryland presents the example of complete success. 
Maryland Is secure to Liberty and Union for all the 
future. The genius of rebellion will no more claim 
Maryland. Like another foul spirit, being driven out, it 
may seek to tear her, but it will woo her no more. 

In presenting the abandonment of armed resistance to 



FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE. 365 

the national authority, on the part of the insurgents, as 
the only indispensable condition to ending the war on the 
part of the Government, I retract nothing heretofore said 
as to slavery. I repeat the declaration made a year ago, 
that " while I remain in my present position I shall not 
attempt to retract or modify the emancipation proc- 
lamation, nor shall I return to slavery any person who 
is free by the terms of that proclamation, or by any of 
the acts of Congress." If the people should, by what- 
ever mode or means, make it an executive duty to re- 
enslave such persons, another, and not I, must be their 
instrument to perform it. 

In stating a single condition of peace, I mean simply 
to say that the war will cease on the part of the Govern- 
ment whenever it shall have ceased on the part of those 
who began it 



366 REPLY TO AN ILLINOIS CLERGYMAN. 



REPLY TO AN ILLINOIS CLERGYMAN. 

" When I left Springfield I asked the people to pray 
for me. I was not a Christian. When I buried my son, 
the severest trial of my life, I was not a Christian. But 
when I went to Gettysburg, and saw the graves of 
thousands of our soldiers, I then and there consecrated 
myself to Christ. Yes, I do love Jesus." 




INFANTRY GROUP OF STATUARY. 
MONUMENT. 



NATIONAL LINCOLN 



Representing a body of infantry soldiers on tlic maicli. They are fiicd 
npon from some covert plaee, and the color-bearer killed. The captain 
raises the colors with dug baud, and with the other points to the enemy 
and orders a bayonet charge, which the private oi his right is in the act of 
executing. The drummer-boy becomes excited, loses his cap, throws 
away his haversack, puts one drumstick in his belt, draws a revolver and 
engages ia the contlict. The exploded shell indicates that they are ou 
ground that has been fought over before. 



IV. T. SHERMAN. 367 

MEMOIRS OF GENERAL W. T. SHERMAN, 

[Extract.] 

I KNOW, when I left him, that I was more than ever 
impressed by his kindly nature, his deep and earnest 
sympathy with the afflictions of the whole people, result- 
ing from the war, and by the march of hostile armies 
through the South ; and that his earnest desire seemed to 
be to end the war speedily, without more bloodshed or 
devastation, and to restore all the men of both sections 
to their homes. In the language of his second inaugural 
address he seemed to have " charity for all, malice toward 
none," and, above all, an absolute faith in the courao-e. 
manliness, and integrity of the armies in the field. When 
at rest or listening, his legs and arms seemed to hano- 
almost lifeless, and his face was care-worn and haggard ; 
but the moment he began to talk his face lightened up, his 
tall form, as it were, unfolded, and he was the very im- 
personation of good-humor and fellowship. The last 
words I recall as addressed to me were that he would 
feel better when I was back at Goldsboro'. We parted 
at the gang-way of the River Queen about noon of 
March 28th, and I never saw him again. Of all the men 
I ever met, he seemed to possess more of the elements of 
greatness, combined with goodness, than any other. 



Washington, 1880, 




368 INSTRUCTIONS. 



INSTRUCTIONS 

GIVEN BY MR. LINCOLN TO WM. H. SEWARD, AT THE MEET- 
ING OF MESSRS. STEVENS, HUNTER AND CAMP- 
BELL, AT FORTRESS MONROE, VA. 

First, the restoration of the national authority 
throughout all the States ; second, no receding by the 
Executive of the United States, on the slavery question, 
from the position assumed thereon in the late annual 
message to Congress and in the preceding documents ; 
no cessation of hostilities short of the end of the war, 
and the disbanding of all the forces hostile to the Govern- 
ment. 

January 31, 1865. 



GLENN I W. SCO FIELD. 369 



A PRIVATE soldier from my congressional district 
having been convicted of knocking down his cap- 
tain, was sentenced to two years' labor on the Dry Tortu- 
gas. With some of his neighbors I called upon President 
Lincoln to solicit a pardon. He appeared completely 
worn out, and complained of weariness ; said he was un- 
able to look after details, and we must go to Stanton. I 
told him we had been there, but he declined to interfere. 
"Then, said the President, "attend to it yourselves at 
the Capitol." I inquired what Congress could do in the 
matter, and quick as thought he said : " Pass a law that 
a private shall have a right to knock down his captain/" 
But after the wit came the pardon. 

Warren, 1880. 

24 



37- SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 



SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS, 

DELIVERED MARCH 3, 1 865. 

" Fellow Countrymen : At this second appearing 
to take the oath of the presidential office, there is less 
occasion for an extended address than there was at the 
first. Then a statement somewhat in detail of a course 
to be pursued seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the 
expiration of four years, during which public declarations 
have been constantly called forth on every point and 
phase of the great contest which still absorbs the atten- 
tion and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is 
new could be presented. The progress of our arms, 
upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to 
the public as to myself, and it is, I trust, reasonably 
satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for 
the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured. 

" On the occasion corresponding to this, four years 
ago, all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending 
civil war. All dreaded it ; all sought to avert it. While 
the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, 
devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, 
insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it 
without war — seeking to dissolve the Union and divide 
its effects by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war ; 
l)ut one of them would make war rather than let the 
nation survive, and the other would accept war rather 
than let it perish. And the war came. 



SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS, 371 

" Both could not be answered — those of neither have 
been answered fully. The Almighty has his own pur- 
poses. Woe unto the world because of offenses ! for it 
must needs be that offenses come ; but woe to that man 
by whom the offense cometh. 

" If we shall suppose that American slavery is one 
of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must 
needs come, but which, havino- continued throuo^h his 
appointed time, he now wills to remove, and that he 
gives to North and South this terrible war, as the woe 
due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern 
therein any departure from those Divine attributes which 
the believers in a living God always ascribe to him ? 
Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty 
scourge of war may soon pass away. Yet, if God wills 
that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bonds- 
man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall 
be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn by the lash 
shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was 
said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said : 
' The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous 
altogether.' 

" With malice toward none, with charity for all, with 
firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let 
us strive on to finish the work we are in ; to bind up the 
nation's wounds ; to care for him who shall have borne 
the battle, and for his widow and for his orphan ; to do 
all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting 
peace among ourselves, and with all nations." 





372 REMARKS ON THE FALL OF RICHMOND. 



REMARKS UPON THE FALL OF 
RICHMOND. 

We meet this evening not in sorrow, but in gladness 
of heart. The evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond, 
and the surrender of the principal insurgent army, givei 
hope of a righteous and speedy peace, whose joyous 
expression cannot be restrained. In the midst of this, 
however, He from whom all blessings flow must not be 
forgotten. Nor must those whose harder part give us 
the cause of rejoicing be overlooked ; their honors must 
not be parceled out with others. I myself was near the 
front, and had the high pleasure of transmitting much 
of the good news to you ; but no part of the honor, for 
plan or execution, is mine. To General Grant, his skill- 
ful officers and brave men, all belongs. 



LAWRENCE BARRETT— NEAL DOW. 



373 



BESIDES .... he hath borne his faculties so meeK, 
Hath been so clean in his great office 
That his virtues will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, 
Against the deep damnation of his taking off. 
And Pity, like a naked, new-born babe, striding the blast, 
Or Heaven's cherubim, horsed on the sightless couriers of 

the air, 
Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye, 
That tears shall drown the wind." 




CoHASSET, 1880. 



I BE LI EVE in Divine inspiration for good, and that 
God sometimes intervenes in the affairs of man. 
Abraham Lincoln, in my view, was charged with a Divine 
mission, which he executed wisely and well, and is justly 
entitled to the reverence, gratitude and love of all loyal 
citizens of our great republic 



A 



".i^^^u^e. 



^^»-t-^ 



Portland, 1882. 



374 A VERBAL MESSAGE. 



A VERBAL MESSAGE GIVEN BY MR. LIN- 
COLN TO HON. SCHUYLER COLFAX, 
FOR THE MINERS OF THE 
FAR WEST, 

April 14, 1865. 

Mr. Colfax : — I want you to take a message from 
me to the miners whom you visit. I have very large 
ideas of the mineral wealth of our nation. I believe it 
practically inexhaustible. It abounds all over the 
western country, from the Rocky Mountains to the Pa- 
cific, and its development has scarcely commenced. 
During the war, when we were adding a couple of millions 
of dollars every day to our national debt, I did not care 
about encouraging the increase in the volume of our 
precious metals. We had the country to save first. 
But, now that the rebellion is overthrown, and we know 
pretty nearly the amount of our national debt, the more 
gold and silver we mine makes the payment of that debt 
so much the easier. Now, I am going to encourage that 
in every possible way. We shall have hundreds of 
thousands of disbanded soldiers, and many have feared 
that their return home in such great numbers might 
paralyze industry by furnishing suddenly a greater supply 
of labor than there will be a demand for. I am going to 
try and attract them to the hidden wealth of our mountain 
ranges, where there is room enough for all. Immigration, 
which even the war has not stopped, will land upon our 



A VERBAL MESSAGE, 375 

shores hundreds of thousands more per year from over- 
crowded Europe. I intend to point them to the gold 
and silver that waits for them in the West. Tell the 
miners from me that I shall promote their interests to the 
utmost of my ability, because their prosperity is the pros- 
perity of the nation ; and we shall prove, in a very few 
years, that we are, indeed, the treasury of the world. 



Mr. Lincoln went to the opera, saying: — " People may 
think strange of it, but I must have some relief from this 
terrible anxiety, or it will kill me." 

April 14TH, 1865. 



[Fac-eimUe ef Theatrical Programme of the night of President Lincoln's Assassination.l 

FORD'S THEATRE, 

TENTH STREET, WASHINGTON, D. C. 

FRIDAY EVENING, APRIL 14lh, 1865. 

THIS EVENING 

the performance will be honored by the presence of 

PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 

Benefit and last night of MISS 

The distinsxuished ^Manageress, Authoress and Actress, supported by 
Mr. JOHN DYOTT and Mr. HARRY HAWK. 

Tom Taylor's celebrated Eccentric Comedy as originally produced in 

America by Miss Keene, and performed by her upwards of 

ONE THOUSAND NIGHTS 

ENTITLED 

OUR AMERICAN COUSIN. 

FLORENCE TRENCHARD Miss LAURA KEENE. 

.\bel Murcott John Dyott. 

Asa Troncbard Harry Hawk. 

8ir Edward Trenchard T. C. Gourlay. 

Lord Dundreary E. A. Emerson. 

Mr. Coyle, Attorney J. Mathews, 

Lieut. Vernon, R. N W. J. Ferguson. 

Captain De Boots , C.Byrnes. 

Binney . . . G. G. Spear. 

Buddicomb. a valet J. H. Evans. 

John Whicker, a gardner J. L. De Bonay 

Rasper, a groom 

Baililfs G. A. Parkhurst and L Johnson. 

Mary Trenchard Miss J. Gourlay. 

Mrs. Mountchessington Mrs. H. Muzzey . 

Augusta Miss H. Truman. 

Georgiana. Miss M. Hart. 

Sharpe Mrs. J. H. Evans. 

Skillet. Miss M. Gourlay. 

THE PRICES OF ADMISSION : 

Orchestra $100 I Dress Circle and Parquette. $ 75 

Family Circle 25 | Private Boxes, ... $6 00 and $10 00 

J. R. FORD, Business Manager. 

H. PoLKiNHORR & SoN, Printers. Washington, D. C. 



MARTIN L. nOOGE— CHARLES A. DANA. 377 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN is the purest man of the 
Jr\ people known to history. In his public career he 
was as incorruptible as Aristides the Just, as sagacious as 
William the Silent, as brave as Cromwell, and as unselfish 
as Codrus the Athenian, who fell in the forefront of the 
battle, that by the sacrifice of his life he might be the 
preserver of his country. 

University of Michigan, 1880. 



HE was a patriot and a wise man. The fundamental 
ideas of the American republican system con- 
trolled his mind and dictated his action. His wisdom 
carried the United States safely through the war of 
secession and abolished slavery. His death was a 
calamity for the country, but it left his fame without a 
fault or criticism. 



New York, 1881. 



378 ALEXANDER H. RICE. 



PERHAPS no quality in the character of the late 
President Lincoln was more conspicuous or more 
engaging than his broad and deep humanity — the interest 
he felt in every human being — and the unostentatious 
and beautiful manifestations of it which were visible to all 
who had intercourse with him. 

No person of much sentiment or sensibility ever 
looked into his wonderful eyes without feeling the spell 
which they exerted, or without knowing that they 
were the windows through which a great soul was 
looking upon the problems of life and the actors in them, 
with a calm, philosophic and loving sympathy. This was 
one of the secrets of the magical power of Lincoln's 
presence. 

He was mirthful, talkative and sad by turns ; fond of 
superficial anecdotes, and invented and used them at con- 
venience or pleasure, to furnish amusement, to parry a 
bore, or to point an argument. He was familiar and 
companionable in ordinary intercourse, always neglectful 
of assuming any unreal dignity, and apparently uncon- 
scious of the greatness of his office, except only the great- 
ness of its responsibilities. To a casual observer, he 
was homely in person and awkward in manners ; and yet 
he was a man with whom no one could presume to trifle, 
and before whom, even in his playful moods, every one 
was impressed by his greatness of spirit. 

We have had no man in our history like Lincoln in his 
leading characteristics, and they cannot be imitated. He 



ALEXANDER H. RICE. 379 

had not much of the serene and contemplative gravity 
which belongs to our traditional Washington ; none of 
the imperious personality of Jackson ; none of the win- 
some and chivalric dash of Henry Clay ; none of the 
ponderous eloquence of Webster, and but little of that 
polite learning which gives high ornament to literature 
and statesmanship ; but he had a subtle and comprehen- 
sive intellect, wonderful power of intuition, and a trans- 
parency of soul through which the truth shone into affairs 
and gave them an interpretation almost divine. 

Nobody ever feared that Lincoln would do a mean or 
wrong thing ; no one dreaded a foolish thing from him ; 
and the country came, finally, to expect from him the 
wisest and best that could be done in every case and on 
every subject. 

It is doubtful if any man born and reared under the 
civilization of the older States could ever have become a 
characteristic Lincoln. To produce him the rough sim- 
plicity of frontier life was necessary ; its needs, its priva- 
tions, its efforts, its self-reliance — that whole sphere of 
experience in which the daily life, though simple, is yet 
full of problems such as can be, and must be, solved ; and 
which are but the epitome of those larger problems 
which, later on, demand the strongest and most versatile 
powers in their solution. In that simple life the facts 
and uses of knowledge, rather than its verbiage, are ac- 
quired and appreciated ; all the faculties are quickened 
and toughened a more quiet contact with nature is en- 
joyed ; and oiit of that contact often comes the con- 
sciousness of a mysterious Power greater than nature, 
between which and men a communion more or less 



38o ALEXANDER H. RICE. 

palpable is possible, a communion which gives to human 
actions the elements of dignity and power that extend far 
above and beyond the realm and the period of earthly 
existence. Lincoln was a man of profound spirituality. 
All this, and much that might be added, was essential to 
the development of a man like Abraham Lincoln. 

But I intended to speak especially and almost wholly 
of the humanity of Lincoln — of his love for the whole 
race of men, and of his sympathy with individuals in their 
trials and distresses. Passing by those great public acts, 
his Proclamation of Emancipation and the like, which have 
become historic, and which have modified the laws and 
institutions and even the civilization of the country, let 
me give a few personal incidents which have never been 
published. 

While officially resident in Washington, during the 
late war, I once had occasion to call upon President 
Lincoln with the late Senator Henry Wilson, upon an er- 
rand of a public nature in which we were mutually inter- 
ested. In the recognized order of precedence a member 
of the House of Representatives, as I then was, could not 
times of pressure for audience with the President gain 
admittance so long as there were Cabinet Ministers, 
meinbers of the Diplomatic Corps, Senators or Justices 
of the Supreme Court desiring audience with him, and 
all civilians must wait their opportunity until after 
members of Congress and officers of the Army and Navy, 
and of the Civil Service and others, had had their turns 
respectively. Having a joint errand with Senator Wilson, 
I could avail of his privilege of earlier admission ; but we 
were oblio-ed to wait some time in the anteroom before 

o 



ALEXANDER H. RICE. 381 

we could be received, and when at length the door was 
opened to us, a small lad, perhaps ten or twelve years old, 
who had been waiting for- admission several days without 
success, slipped in between us, and approached the Pres- 
ident in advance. The latter gave the Senator and 
myself a cordial but brief salutation, and turning im- 
mediately to the lad, said: "And who is the little boy?" 
During their conference the Senator and myself were ap- 
parently forgotten. The boy soon told his story, which 
was in substance that he had come to Washington seek- 
ing employment as a page in the House of Representa- 
tives, and he wished the President to give him such an 
appointment. To this the President replied that such 
appointments were not at his disposal, and that applica- 
tion must be made to the door-keeper of the House at 
the Capitol. " But, sir," said the lad, still undaunted, 
" I am a good boy, and have a letter from my mother, 
and one from the supervisors of my town, and one from 
my Sunday-school teacher, and they all told me that I 
could earn enough in one session of Congress to keep my 
mother and the rest of us comfortable all the remainder 
of the year." The President took the lad's papers, and 
ran his eye over them with that penetrating and absorb- 
ing look so familiar to all who knew him, and then took 
his pen and wrote upon the back of one of them : " If 
Captain Goodnow can give a place to this good little 
boy, I shall be gratified," and signed it "A. Lincoln." 

The boy's face became radiant with hope, and he 
walked out of the room with a step as light as though 
all the angels were whispering their congratulations. 

Only after the lad had gone did the President seem 



382 ALEXANDER H. RICE. 

to realize that a Senator and another person had been 
some time waiting to see him. 

Think for a moment of the President of a great 
nation, and that nation engaged in one of the most 
terrible wars ever waged among men, himself worn down 
with anxiety and labor, subjected to the alternations of 
success and defeat, racked by complaints of the envious, 
the disloyal and the unreasonable, pressed to the decision 
of grave questions of public policy, and encumbered by the 
numberless and nameless incidents of civil and martial 
responsibility, yet able so far to forget them all as to 
give himself up for the time being to the errand of a little 
boy who had braved an interview uninvited, and of whom 
he knew nothing, but that he had a story to tell of his 
widowed mother, and of his ambition to serve her. 

On another occasion I had an interview with Presi- 
dent Lincoln on behalf of a captain in one of our 
Massachusetts regiments, a brave man, who, after most 
valiant service, had been captured by the rebels, and was 
then held a prisoner at Richmond. I asked that he 
might be exchanged. The President replied with much 
kindness that such cases were so numerous that he could 
not deal with them individually, but must classify and 
decide them in considerable numbers. This was obvi- 
ously so true as scarcely to admit of reply ; yet I ventured 
to say that if he could but hear this case, I thought it so 
remarkable that he would be glad to make it an excep- 
tion. " Well, state it," he said, and I did so ; and im- 
mediately on my closing, the President said, " I wish you 
would go over to the War Department and tell Gen. 
that story, just as you have told it to me, and say 



ALEXANDER H. RICE. 383 

from me that if it be possible for him to effect the ex- 
change of Captain without compromising the cases 

of other prisoners of his rank, I wish him to do so." 
" But," I said, " for a technical misdemeanor Captain 
has, since his capture, been deprived of his com- 
mission and reduced to the ranks, and probably the 
rebels will not exchange him for a private soldier." 

" Well," said the President, " if Gen. raises that 

point, say to him that if he can arrange the exchange 
part, I can take care of the rank part, and I will do so." 
The captain was in Washington in about ten days after- 
wards. 

Again, a boy from one of the country towns of Mas- 
sachusetts, who had entered a store in Boston, and be- 
come dazzled by the apparent universal distribution of 
wealth, without any definite idea of how it was acquired, 
fell into the fault of robbing his employer's letters as he 
took them to and from the post-office, and, having been 
convicted of the offense, was servinfj out his sentence in 
jail. The father of this boy came to Washington to ob- 
tain a pardon for his son, and I accompanied him to the 
White House and introduced him. A petition signed 
by a large number of respectable citizens was presented. 
The President put on his spectacles and stretched himself 
at length upon his arm-chair while he deliberately read the 
document, and then he turned to me and asked if I met 
a man going down the stairs as I came up. I said that I 
did. "Yes," said the President; "he was the last person 
in this room before you came, and his errand was to get 
a man pardoned out of the penitentiary ; and now you 
have come to get a boy out of jail !" Then, with one of 



384 ALEXANDER H. RICE. 

those bursts of humor which were both contagious and 
irresistible, he said : " I'll tell you what it is, we must 
abolish those courts, or they will be the death of us. I 
thought it bad enough that they put so many men in the 
penitentiaries for me to get out ; but if they have now 
begun on the boys and the jails, and have roped you into 
the delivery, let's after them ! And they deserve the 
worst fate," he soon continued, "because, according to 
the evidence that comes to me, they pick out the very 
best men and send them to the penitentiary ; and this 
present petition shows they are playing the same game 
on the good boys, and sending them all to jail. The 
man you met on the stairs affirmed that his friend in the 
penitentiary is a most exemplary citizen, and Massa- 
chusetts must be a happy State If her boys out of jail 
are as virtuous as this one appears to be who Is In. 
Yes ; down with the courts and deliverance to their 
victims, and then we can have some peace !" 

During all this time the President was In a most 
merry mood. Then his face assumed a sad and thought- 
ful expression, and he proceeded to say that he could 
quite understand how a boy from simple country life 
might be overcome by the sight of universal abundance 
In a large city, and by a full supply of money In the 
pockets of almost everybody, and be led to commit even 
such an offense as this one had done, and yet not be 
justly put into the class of hopeless criminals ; and If he 
could be satisfied that this was a case of that kind, and 
that the boy would be placed under proper Influences, 
and probably saved from a bad career, he would be glad' 
to extend the clemency asked for. The father explained 



ALEXANDER H. RICE. 385 

his purpose in that respect, the Congressmen from the 
State in which he belonged united in the petition, and the 
boy was pardoned. 

Such examples as these, varying in character, but 
all springing from the same tender and noble qualities 
of heart, might be multiplied almost indefinitely ; but 
they all found culmination in that grandest utterance of 
modern eloquence, at the consecration of the battle-field 
of Gettysburg, when, the promptings of his soul having 
summoned his intellect to the point of supreme exalta- 
tion, he spoke to all mankind those words of patriotism, 
admonition and pathos which will continue to sound 
throutrh the acres as lono; as the flowers shall bloom or 
the waters flow. 

Boston, 1882. 

25 



386 A. A. E. TAYLOR— H. L. DAWES. 



THE name of Abraham Lincoln will ever stand in 
history and in the hearts of his own countrymen 
beside the name of Washington. His genius, v/isdom 
and goodness saved the Union ; his great heart liberated 
the slaves. Christian people believe he was raised up 
by the divine Hand for the deliverance of the nation, and 
guided in its accomplishment. In my humble judgment 
his name is the greatest in American history. 

University of Wooster, 1880. 




w 



ASHINGTON was the Father, and Lincoln the 
Savior, of his Country. 



PiTTSFIELD. 1880. 



PETER COOPER, 



387 



HAVE always had the greatest admiration for the 
amiable, simple and honest traits of Mr. Lincoln's 
character. I believe that, under the providence of God, 
he was, next to Washington, the greatest instrument for 
the preservation of the Union and the integrity of the 
country ; and this was brought about chiefly through his 
strict and faithful adherence to the Constitution of his 
country. 




New York, i88o. 



38S /. IK ANDREWS— P. A. CHADBOURNE. 



N the revolutionary struggle George Washington was 
raised up to be our great leader in the achievement 
of national independence ; and in the rebellion Abraham 
Lincoln was placed in the Presidential chair to preserve 
the Union from dissolution and destruction. Each of 
these great men seems to have been chosen of God for 
his special work, and the names of Washington and 
Lincoln will forever be united in the memory and love 
of the American people. 



Marietta College, 1880. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN was the man for the times ; 
and in the great work he accomplished for his 
country, and in the cause of human rights, he has not 
been surpassed by any of the greatest and best men of 
our land. 




Williams College. 



M. F. BIGNEY. 389 



IN the broadest and best sense of the term, Abraham 
Lincohi was America's great " Commoner." Pos- 
sibly he builded wiser than he knew, for while 

" He carved his name on time as on a rock. 
And stood thereon as on a monument," 

he was apparently unconscious as an infant-giant of his 
own high possibiHties. A patriot without pretense, and 
a statesman by intuition, he could still descend to the 
level of the humblest, ever ready with a jest to point a 
moral, and with a story to confound a sophist. 

At the time when bloody treason flourished and he 
fell, the Southern people, unjustly accused of sympathy 
with his assassin, were just beginning to appreciate his 
sterling qualities and the wisdom of his acts. His death 
was to the North a bereavement and a grief ; to the 
South it was a dire calamity which hindered the consum- 
mation of that "more perfect union" for which all good 
people prayed ; and to-day the men and women of the 
South, without distinction of race or color, cherish the 
memory of the Martyr-President as that of a Deliverer. 

He, whom the people honored; he, the wise, 

Wlio fought for honor's prize; 
He, whom the armies reverenced — the good, 

Who every lure withstood; 
He, whom the ransomed worsliiped; he, tiie blest, 

Has gone to his great rest! 



39° 



M. F. BIGNEY. 



When through war's storm-cloud the fair silver light 

Of peace appeared most bright, 
Red-handed murder raised against his life 

The pistol and the knife, 
And HE, the great, the good, the nation's Chief 

Fell, leaving all in grief. 



^Ji^Kjf^, 




New Orleans. i88i. 



JAMES MARVIN— C. M. MEAD. 391 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. AN AMERICAN, I 
find all the characteristics of the ideal American 
embodied in this great, good man. Coming ages alone 
can properly estimate the value of his services to this 
country and to human freedom in all lands. 




^XA>'<.'^'Z>t<^ 



Lawrence, 1880. 



NO other statesman in the world's history has ever 
won from so many men their personal affection, 
thorough confidence and enthusiastic admiration, as 
Abraham Lincoln. 

Andover Theological Seminary, 1880. 



39^ 



O. O. HO WARD. 



I MET Mr. Lincoln several times during the war, and 
always entertained for him feelings of confidence 
and esteem, and finally of great personal affection. The 
last time I saw him was in the fall after Gettysburg, at 
the White House. It was just prior to my leaving the 
Army of the Potomac for the West with a part of the 
nth Corps. He gave me his map, which, being 
" mounted," was in his judgment better than mine for 
field service. This was after we had conversed for some 
time upon the military situation in the vicinity of Knox- 
ville and of Chattanooga, and just as I was about leaving 
his room. I used the map thereafter, and have it still. 




West Point, 1882. 



WILLIAM APNEELY. 393 



MY first acquaintance with Abraham Lincohi com- 
menced on his arrival at New Salem, Sangamon 
County, Illinois, on a flat-boat, about the year 1S30, in 
company with one Denton Offeit, who had a store. 
Lincoln clerked for him some time, after which he went 
to work at anything that could be found to do, such as 
cutting and splitting rails, etc. He had worked but a 
short time when he was appointed deputy-sheriff, and 
after a time became county-surveyor under one Calhoun, 
of Springfield, which business he followed for some time. 
Lincoln was poor ; but it was soon discovered that he 
possessed a very high order of intellect, and therefore 
he was helped and encouraged, and soon had a host of 
friends in New Salem. About this time he went into the 
family grocery business, but left the business principally 
in charge of his partner, while he devoted his time to 
other business and at the same time studying to make 
something of himself. When at work he was in the 
habit of carrying a book about with him, and when 
stopping to rest would devote the time tc reading, and 
what he read he remembered. I recollect of his saying 
that "A fool could learn about as well as a wise man, 
but after he had learned, it did not do him any good." 

Lincoln said he did not believe in total depravity, 
and, although it was not popular to believe it, it was 
easier to do right than wrong; that the first thought 
was : what was right ? and the second — what was wrong ? 
Therefore it was easier to do right than wrong, and 



394 



WILLIAM M'NEELY 



easier to take care of, as it would take care of itself. It 
took an effort to do wrong, and a still greater effort to 
take care of It ; but do right, and it would take care of 
itself. Then you had nothing to do but to go ahead and 
do right and nothing to trouble you. 

He was a very close observer. Speaking of a prayer 
he once heard a very pious man make, in which he 
prayed very earnestly for the " widowers," he said he 
"did not know but what it might be an improvement on 
prayer ; that he did not know but the widows had about 
as hard a time as the widowers, but believed that God 
did all thinors riofht." 

Lincoln, during his residence in New Salem, was a 
candidate for the Leo^islature. There were nine who 
wanted to be elected, and he said : " They let him off 
with 700 votes — a little behind the ninth man." After 
this some of the talented, big men induced him to move 
to Springfield. The next time he was a candidate he 
was elected to the Legislature, where he distinguished 
himself by taking a prominent part in favor of internal 
improvements and other Important measures. In politics 
he was a Whig, and so was I ; and when the Whig party 
had worn itself out In honorable age he and I joined the 
Republican party. After leaving New Salem for Spring- 
field, Mr. Lincoln and myself petitioned for a new county. 
He looked out the lines of the proposed new county, 
and the result was the county of Menard was set off. 
At this time he was an able lawyer, and stood very high 
in the profession. He was always kind to his friends, 
and attended to some law business for me, frequently 
gave me advice ; and I do not recollect of his ever charg- 



WILLIAM M'NEELY. 395 

ing me anything for it. He was not only kind to his 
friends, but possessed a large share of humanity and was 
kind to all. 

I was acquainted with him a long time, and I never 
knew him to do a wrons: act. While he had a host of 
friends, I would not say that he had no enemies. In this 
connection I will quote in substance what he said at the 
funeral of one Doling Green, of Menard county, an old 
citizen and friend of Mr. Lincoln. The arrangements 
for the funeral were that Dr. McNeal, of Springfield, 
was to preach the funeral sermon and Mr. Lincoln was 
to speak of the character of the deceased. Dr. McNeal, 
in his introductory remarks, said that in relation to the 
character of the deceased he would say nothing, as that 
was left to better and abler hands. At the conclusion 
of the sermon Mr. Lincoln arose and said that Mr. Green, 
the deceased, had a great many friends, and had always 
been a true friend to him, but he would not say that he. 
Green, had no enemies. There was, however, one con- 
solation in that, for he read in Sacred Writ, a woe was 
pronounced on that man that all men spoke well of, and 
in that his deceased friend got rid of that "woe;" and 
so I would say of Mr. Lincoln, he will get rid of that 
woe. As is well known, Mr. Lincoln volunteered and 
went into the Black Hawk War, as captain of a company 
of Illinois troops, and, as I recollect, did well and was 
liked by all. The "boys" would get discouraged, but 
Lincoln would cheer them up by cracking his, jokes, tell- 
ing amusing stories and appearing always cheerful. 

It may not be generally known, but Mr. Lincoln 
surveyed and laid out the town of Petersburg, which is 



396 WILLIAM M'NEELY. 

now a city. He was also elected to Congress, the well' 
known Peter Cartwright, a Methodist preacher, being his 
opponent in the canvass. The records of the country 
show what he did in opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska 
bill, when he took issue with Stephen A, Douglas, agreed 
upon a joint discussion, and made a canvass of the State. 
At one of their public discussions — I believe it was 
at Havana — after the discussion had been somewhat 
prolonged and it was thought that Mr. Douglas had 
exhausted his argument, Mr. Lincoln came forward and 
told a story. He said : There were large poplar trees 
in Kentucky, and he knew a man who had a very large 
one, and nothing near to pile upon it, so as to burn it, 
and it was so large that it could not be hauled away ; 
and he then asked if any one could tell what they did 
about it? No one answering, he told them: "They 
went around it." "Just so," said Mr. Lincoln, "Mr. 
Douglas will have to do with his Kansas-Nebraska bill, 
just go around it." The well-known remark of Mr. Lin- 
coln, that the Government could not exist half free and 
half slave, and that a house divided against itself could 
not stand. My opinion is, there never was a better man 
than Abraham Lincoln, and I came to this conclusion 
from a long acquaintance with him. 




Petersburg, 1882. 



LOUISA PARSONS HOPKINS. 



397 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

OUR country's Titan! on her mighty rivers, 
Her trackless plains, in virgin forests growing, 
That strength was nurtured which a land delivers. 
And reaps the harvest of a century's sowing. 

Harvest of blood and death: Oh! hapless nation, 
Into that gulf her best and bravest throwing ! 

Rome gave her Curtius for an expiation — 

Our sealed abyss was thy great heart's outflowing. 




-zf^ 



'^^^^-^^^in^^cc^ 




New Bedford, 1882. 



398 SAAfL ADAMS DRAKE— FERNANDO WOOD. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN is one of the most com- 
manding figures in history. That his elevation to 
the Presidency was at first viewed with aversion by a 
Jarge and influential body of his countrymen there can be 
no question. But events vindicated the wisdom of the 
choice. The world has confirmed and history has re- 
corded it. When he died it was as a conqueror. Like 
Wolfe, at Quebec, Abraham Lincoln expired in the arms 
of victory. 



Melrose, 1882. 



FOR the fame of Lincoln it is only necessary to say 
that he was contemporary with the permanent 
establishment of human freedom in the United States, 
and identified with its final accomplishment. 




New York, 1880. 



DAVID D. PORTER. 



399 



IT would be a difficult matter for any one to give 
a proper idea of Abraham Lincoln and his services 
during the years he was engaged in the most stupendous 
labor that has perhaps fallen to the lot of a statesman. 
He can be better judged by his works than by anything 
I could say. I was intimately associated with Mr. 
Lincoln during a period of two or three weeks when the 
war of the rebellion was drawing to a close, and my re- 
membrance of him is of a man whose mind was oppressed 
with care and whose body was almost broken down with 
the magnitude of his labors ; whose days and nights were 
passed in sleepless anxiety for the preservation and wel- 
fare of the Union. I knew nothing, personally, of Mr. 
Lincoln's trials in the Cabinet, where I am sure he had 
much to contend with, or of the dissensions with poli- 
ticians who, amid the ruins of their country, were work- 
ing for their own aggrandizement. I only knew the Pres- 
ident as an honest, faithful worker in his country's 
cause, who did the best he could to bring the war to a 
speedy close, while at the same time he showed a deter- 
mined spirit to yield nothing that would militate against 
the Republic of which he w^as the head. Although 
painted by his enemies in the blackest colors. President 
Lincoln had a heart capable of the greatest sympathy 
and the keenest emotions for the carnage and destruction 
he saw going on in every direction, and if necessary he 
would have sacrificed his life to avert these horrors. If 
Mr. Lincoln had never done more than the one act of 
abolishing slavery and wiping out that blot on our civil- 
ization, it would have been enough to immortalize him ; 



400 DAVID D. PORTER. 

but if his biography is pubHcly written when prejudices 
are laid aside, so that the man can be seen in his great- 
ness and integrity, no nobler character will adorn the 
pages of American history. The last days of President 
Lincoln's life, except the two final ones, were passed in 
my company and mostly on board my flag-ship, and I 
take great satisfaction in the knowledge that he con- 
sidered them the happiest days of his administration. 
He came to City Point, unaccompanied by any of his 
Cabinet, to v/itness what he knew was about to take place 
in the downfall of the Confederate stroncjhold. He was 
anxious for peace and was willing to extend the most 
liberal terms to those who had made war upon us. I 
kept from the President all those who would have 
annoyed him or disturbed the tranquillity he enjoyed on 
ship-board, and I think he was grateful for my considera- 
tion. It would take a large volume to contain a true 
story of Lincoln's administration. He was the central 
figure in the Cabinet, and without him it would have been 
nothing. Pie was the opposing power against political 
schemers who wished to put this or that general at the 
head of our armies, and when left to his own judgment 
he always selected the right man. Take him altogether, 
Abraham Lincoln was one of the most remarkable men 
this country has produced, and will be revered in the 
future more than any other President except Washing- 
ton. The two names will go down together to posterity. 




Washington 




NAVY GROUP OF STATUARY. NATIONAL LINCOLN MONUMENT. 
Representins a scene on the deck of a ehip of war. The mortar is properly poised, the giiuucr 
,aB rolled up a shell ready to be elevated into t.ie inoi tar, the boy, whose duty it is to carry cartilages 
o the piece, and who in nautical phrase is called the powder monkey, has elevated himself to tlie 
ighest position . The two latter believinLC they are about to enter upon an eii!,'ageiiieut, arc peering 
iito the distance with manifest indications of excitement. The Commander however, having taken 
n observation through his telescope, linds there is no cause to apprehend danger, and is calmly 
aeditatins. 



AUGUST V. KAUTZ. 401 



THE VISIT OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN TO 
RICHMOND, 

THE ABANDONED CONFEDERATE CAPITAL, ON THE 4TH OF 

APRIL, 1865. 

THE abandoned and burning city was occupied, the 
day previous, by General Weitzel's command, con- 
sisting of a division of white troops under General Devins 
and a colored division which I commanded. The Pres- 
ident, accompanied by Admiral Porter, had landed early 
in the afternoon from the gun-boat Afalverji, which came 
up from City Point, and leading his little son Tad, the 
three walked up from the landing to General Weitzel's 
quarters, in the house occupied two days before by the 
Confederate President. By the time he reached it, the 
streets were almost impassable, being obstructed mostly 
by negroes struggling to get sight of the man whom they 
regarded as their savior. A reception was held immedi- 
ately, that lasted some hours, and then a ride was proposed, 
and, accompanied by a number of general officers, the 
party, filling two ambulances, drove through the city and 
^Capitol grounds until sundown. The same evening, Mr. 
Campbell, of the Confederate Cabinet, and some other 
prominent Confederates, interviewed Mr. Lincoln with 
propositions for the restoration of Virginia to the Union. 
The President remained until the 7th without agreeing 
upon any plan that was accepted. This was the last time 

26 



402 



AUGUST V. KA UTZ. 



that I saw Mr. Lincoln ; one week after he was assassinated ; 
and, a few weeks later, I was summoned to Washington 
and detailed a member of the Commission that tried the 
assassins. By this visit to the captured Confederate 
capital, Mr. Lincoln realized, before General Lee had 
surrendered, more completely than he otherwise could 
have done, that the Confederacy had fallen, and that the 
cause, of which he was the distinguished representative. 
had triumphed, to accomplish which, he would have laid 
down his life at any time during the war. 



U. S. Army. 




SOPHIE E. EASTMAN. 403 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

February 12, 1809. 

NO minster bells' loud paean 
Proclaimed the moment when 
He came to earth to be an 

Uncrowned king of men; 
No purple to enfold him, 

Our country's royal guest ; 
But loving arms to hold him. 

Silence ! God knoweth best ! 

April 15, 1865. 

The way was long and cheerless, 

But dawn succeeded night; 
That soul, so brave and fearless, 

Dwells evermore in light ! 
No shadows dim his glory. 

Our hearts his praise resound, 
And history tells his story, — 

Our nation's king is crowned ! 




South Hadley, 1882. 



404 IVM. WILBERFORCE NEWTON. 



THE most conspicuous victim of our nation's rise and 
progress has been Abraham Lincoln. The long 
and cruel war of the rebellion was over. The first glad 
days of peace had come. The waters of the flood of 
wrath were disappearing, and the long-tossed ark of the 
national life had just rested upon solid ground. The dove 
was returning from the redeemed world with a branch of 
olive, when the hand of the assassin struck down the 
emancipator of the race of slaves. To those of us who 
remember vividly the war days, who cannot recall the 
awful shock of that event ? The brave patriot's life, 
covered, as it had been, with contumely and abuse, de- 
rided, scorned, criticised, condemned, stood at the last 
far above all his compeers, and we understood at the last 
why it was that the leadership of this elect nation had 
been committed to his patient, suffering keeping through 
the storm of the civil war, and not to his companions, a 
Seward, a Chase or a Stanton, since in the light of his 
death we beheld the divine meaning of his choice, and 
felt that, like Saul amonof the elder brethren of his 
father's house, the horn of the prophetic people, like 
that of Samuel of old, had anointed with holy oil that 
man of the people whom God had unmistakably called 
and chosen to be the leader through the crisis of the 
rebellion. 



i^'^Z^nc^j^ju: 



Boston, 1882. 



L. SCOTT. 405 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN I regard as belonging to 
l\ the same class with the judges in Israel. He was 
raised up by Divine Providence to be the deliverer of 
this nation in a time of great peril. His work done, God 
permitted him to be removed without conscious suffer- 
ing, by the bullet of a most cowardly and wicked assassin. 
His name will stand on the roll of fame next to that of 
Washington as a benefactor of his race. 




1880. 



4o6 tV. STRONG. 



THE life and services of President Lincoln must ever 
be reo^arded as one of the most beneficent mfts 
which an ever-willing Providence has ever conferred upon 
this much-favored country. He seems to have been 
raised up for the times in which he lived — times as 
critical as it is possible to conceive — and for those times 
he was exactly fitted. Perhaps it is too much to say no 
other man could have done the noble work which he did 
in saving the Union, but I know of no other that in my 
judgment could have done so well. An ardent patriot, 
shrewd, with lars^e common sense, far-reaching fore- 
sight, firmness and tenacity of purpose, possessing the 
largest sympathies, "with malice for none and charity for 
all," I cannot hope ever to see his like again. 

Washington, 1880. 



IV. D. HO WELLS— JOHN GIBBON. 407 



NO admirer who speaks in his praise must pause 
to conceal a stain upon his good name. No 
true man falters in his affection at the remembrance of 
any mean action or littleness in the life of Lincoln. The 
purity of his reputation ennobles every incident of his 
career and gives significance to all the events of his past." 

Belmont, 1880. 



MR. LINCOLN will be known in history, first, as 
an honest man ; second, as a statesman in the 
truest and best meaning of the word ; third, as a human- 
ist with a sincere love of his whole country, and a heart 
large enough to take in the whole human race ; fourth, 
as the great martyr to the cause of Liberty throughout 
the world. 



^J^iThu^ ^^'tytr'^2r^ 



U. S. Army, 1882. 



4o8 /. A. GARFIELD. 



\ y^ riTH profound reverence for the life and character 



of Abraham Lincoln. 



Mentor, Ohio, July 2, i88a 



G A LUSH A A, GROW—W. W. GOODWIN. 409 



THE Martyr President seals with his blood the 
emancipation of a race, and grasping four millions 
of broken coffles, ascends to the bosom of his God, thus 
consecrating the larui of Washington as the home of the 
emigrant and the asylum of the oppressed of every climei 
and of all races of men. 




Philadelphia, 1880. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN was the right man in the 
.^1. right place, at the right time. The whole country 
owes him a debt of endless gratitude. 



yV. A ^ -$.-:> 



Ca-mbrtdgb^ iS8a 



4IO C. E. LIPPINCOTT. 



LINCOLN came so aptly to the need of his times, and 
-/ was so exactly fitted for the burden of his great- 
ness, that probably he impressed few of his casual ac- 
quaintances with his transcendent qualities. Now that 
he has gone from the world, which he did so much to 
make better, those who have a definite knowledge of the 
crisis in which he was the greatest actor can see and 
wonder at his greatness. Others were divided upon 
abstract questions, which, by unkindly discussion, seemed 
to have grown into causes of sectional hate. Even many 
of the leaders of the party which made Lincoln President 
forgot their love of country in their hatred of slavery, 
and would have accepted disunion even, that they might 
fight slavery more earnestly. They made the mistake 
which history shows has been made so often. They 
fancied that excessive philanthropy might take the place 
of patriotism. Lincoln first and above all loved his 
country. Every other love, opinion, principle was in 
utter subordination to his patriotism. That was his 
strength. That made him the representative and the 
worthy leader of all patriots of every sort of opinion. 
He was the leader of all the patriotic people ; he was 
the leader of the war. He was the incarnation of a 
nation's love of country. In his grave he remains the 
exemplar and the idol of patriotism. 




Chandlerville, 1 88 1. 



GEO. BANCROFT GRIFFITH— JOHN G. FEE. 411 



THE grand legacy ot American Ireedom, bequeatiieu 
to us by the Father of his Country, and which a 
wicked rebellion would have squandered, was saved, we 
trust, for all coming time, by that noble martyr, Abraham 
Line hi. 

East Lempster, 1881. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN at all times impressed me 
as a man of native good sense, singleness of 
motive and integrity of purpose. His life has been of 
great good to this nation, because he " desired to be on 
the Lord's side," gave his voice for the freedom of the 
oppressed and his life for the Union of the States. No 
better legacy can be left to the youth of our land than 
the example of great men and \vomen — great in goodness 
of heart and character. 

^^^ f i^s 
Berea College, 1882. 



412 



FREDERICK SMYTH, 



THE possibility of such a man as Abraham Lincoln 
is a standing argument in favor of a Government 
which unites freedom with strength, and has strength 
without tyranny. Courts and kingdoms might be 
searched in vain for a prince who, by tradition or culture, 
had attained such wisdom in the government of men as 
had the son of the backwoods. What gentleness, wis- 
dom, patience ! What wit ! What skill in argument ! 
What power of persuasion ! What sublime faith ! These 
were qualities which bound him to the hearts of his 
countrymen and made him worthy to be a martyr to 
liberty. 




Manchester, 1880. 



JANE GREY SWISSHELM. 413 



IN February, '63, I went to Washington, so much 
prejudiced against President Lincoln that I was 
with difficulty persuaded to attend a reception, and would 
only go on condition that I should not be presented. I 
went into his presence with a feeling of scorn for the 
man who had tried to save the Union and slavery — the 
man who had rescinded the orders of Gen. Fremont and 
Gen. Hunter, emancipating the slaves of rebels in arms 
against the Government. I had no respect for the man 
who had emancipated a nation of slaves, not as an act 
of justice, but as a means to an end ; and, was no little 
startled to find a chill of awe pass over me as my eyes 
rested upon him. It was as if I had suddenly passed a 
turn in a road and come into full view of the Matterhorn ; 
as if I had stepped from a close room into a mountain 
breeze. 

I have always been sensitive to the atmosphere of 
those I met, but have never found that of any one 
impress me as did that of Mr. Lincoln, and I know no 
word save "grandeur" which expresses the quality of 
that atmosphere. I think that to me no familiarity, no 
circumstance, could have made him other than grand. 
The jests, the sallies, with which he amused small people 
and covered his own greatness, were the shrubs on the 
mountain side, the flowers which shot up in the crevices 
of the rocks ! They were no part of the mountain. 
Grandly and alone he walked his way through this life ; 
and the world had no honors, no emoluments, no 



414 JANE GREY SIVISSHELM. 

reproaches, no shames, no punishments which he could 
not have borne without swerving or bias. 

Washington was to Lincoln what St. Peter's is to 
the Matterhorn. He was a fine combination of good 
material, worked into form by high art ; but art had 
nothing to do in making Lincoln ; only God, and His 
elements, could effect the equipoise or outline of this 
rugged, thoroughly balanced nature. 

I stood for some time watching him receive his 
guests and getting back my own breath and circulation ; 
not realizing the full measure of the effect his presence 
had on me, but fully impressed by a conviction of his 
honesty. Whatever he had done, or left undone, was 
the result of conviction. He had done what he believed 
to be right, and stood ready to bear every responsibility 
of his acts. 

He could never dodge or prevaricate, and his policy 
was that of the teacher who seeks to lead his pupils to 
the highest plane, and by the best means known to him- 
self. His simplicity and self-forgetfulness, his total lack 
of that weakness which finds strength in rank, were 
evident at a glance. To himself he was no greater as 
Commander-in-chief than he would have been as corporal 
or private. His aims were all his country's, his ambition 
to render her the best service in his power ; and this he 
would have done in any position, with as much pride as 
he commanded his armies. 

His evident weariness, and the patience with which 
he stood shaking hands, as one might pump on a sinking 
ship, made me angry with the senseless custom. Were 
there not enough demands on his time and strength, 



JANE GREY SWISSHELM. 415 

without this unreasonable drain ? I hesitated about being 
presented, because It would be another hand for him to 
shake, but felt I could not go away without yielding what 
was counted a token of respect and protesting against the 
custom. So w^ien he took my hand I said : " May the 
Lord have mercy on you, poor man ; for the people have 
none ! 

He threw up his head and laughed pleasantly, and 
those around him joined the laugh ; but I went off angry, 
indignant, that he should be sacrificed to a false social 
custom — an Insolent demand of thoughtless people, and 
vain people, who added this burden to that of an already 
cruelly overtaxed public servant. 



D^u ^\}j^ ^\lo^^\AmK 



Chicago, 1882. 



4i6 JNO. C. NEW. 



THE name and fame of Mr. Lincoln will live as long 
as the history of the republic endures, as that of 
a true lover of his country and of humanity — as that of 
a man equal to all the conditions of life, from that of 
th : humble and lowly to that of the proud and exalted 
position as President of the grand republic and peer of 
the proudest monarch, and in every position the same 
plain, honest, prudent man — safe in council, wise in action 
and pure in purpose. 




Indianapolis, 1880. 



RICHARD SMITH. 417 



THE life and services of a public man can only be 
impartially estimated when he has passed from 
active duty. Washington was largely reviled while living ; 
his memory is now universally revered. In public life 
Lincoln was a second Washington, and his memory 
occupies a corresponding position in the hearts of his 
loyal countrymen. Side by side their names will go down 
in history to the end of time, the one as the instrument 
that secured independence, and the other as the instru- 
ment that preserved our Union and gave freedom to four 
million slaves. He was sacrificed, but his martyrdom 
gave emphasis to the living principles embodied in our 
amended Constitution ; as the lifting up of Christ elevated 
the principles it was his mission to establish. These are 
now almost universally acknowledged. These are the 
beacon lights which moderate despotisms and are the 
hope of people who seek liberty for the sake of the 
human race. 

Cincinnati, 1880. 



vt 



4i8 ALEXANDER MILTON ROSS. 



A FEW months after the inauguration of President 
Lincoln I received a letter from the Hon. 
Charles Sumner, requesting me to come to Washington, 
at my earliest convenience. The day after my arrival i 
Washington I was introduced to the President. Mr.j 
Lincoln received me very cordially, and invited me to] 
dine with him. Assembled at the President's table wer 
several prominent gentlemen, to whom Mr. Lincol 
introduced me as "a red- hot abolitionist from Canada.'" 
One of the guests, a prominent member of Congress, 
from Indiana, said, in a slurring manner: "I wish the 
negroes of the United States would emigrate to Canada, 
as the Canadians are so fond of their company," Mr. 
Lincoln said : " It would be better for the negroes, that's 
certain." " Yes," I replied a little warmly, " it would be 
better for the negroes ; for, under our flag, the blackest 
negro is entitled to and freely accorded every right and 
privilege enjoyed by native Canadians. We make no 
distinction in respect to the color of a man's skin. It is 
true, we live under a monarchical form of government, i 
but every man and woman, white, black, or brown, have i 
equal rights under our laws." Mr. Lincoln, in a jocular 
way, said to the member of Congress : " If you are not j 
careful, you will bring on a war with Canada ; I think we 
have got a big enough job on hand now." The con- 
versation then turned on the attitude of England toward 
the free States in their contest with the slave-holders. 
One gentleman remarked that he was surprised to see so 



ALEXANDER MILTON ROSS. 419 

many manifestations of unfriendliness on the part of the 
English and Canadian people, and asked me how I ac- 
counted for it. I replied: " How can you expect it other- 
wise, when there exists in your Northern States so much 
diversity of opinion as to the justness of your cause? The 
unfriendly expressions of an English statesman, or the 
avowed hostility of a few English and Canadian papers, 
are noted by you with painful surprise ; while the 
treasonable utterances and acts of some of your own 
political leaders and people are quite overlooked. 
Besides, you cannot expect the sympathy of the Christian 
world in your behalf, while you display such an utter dis- 
regard for the rights and liberties of your own citizens, 
as I witnessed in this city yesterday." Mr. Lincoln asked 
to what I alluded. I replied : " A United States marshal 
passed through Washington yesterday, having in his 
charge a colored man, whom he was taking back to 
Virginia under your Fugitive Slave Law. The man had 
escaped from his master, who is an open rebel, and fled 
to Wilmington, Delaware, where he was arrested and 
taken back into slavery." 

After dinner Mr. Lincoln led me to a window, distant 
from the rest of the party, and said : " Mr. Sumner sent 
for you at my request ; we need a confidential person in 
Canada to look after our interests, and keep us posted as 
to the schemes of the Confederates in Canada. You have 
been strongly recommended to me for the position. 
Your mission shall be as confidential as you please ; no 
one here but your friend Mr. Sumner and myself shall 
have any knowledge of your position. Your communica- 
tions may be sent direct to me under cover to Major . 



420 ALEXANDER MILl^ON ROSS. 

Think it over to-night, and if you can accept the mission, 
come up and see me at nine o'clock to-morrow morning." 
When I took my leave of him, he said : " I hope you will 
decide to serve us." The position thus offered was one 
not suited to my tastes, but, as Mr. Lincoln appeared very 
desirous that I should accept it, I concluded to lay aside 
my prejudices and accept the responsibilities of the 
mission. I was also persuaded to this conclusion by the 
wishes of my friend, Mr. Sumner. 

At nine o'clock next morning, I waited upon the 
President, and announced my decision. He grasped my 
hand in a hearty manner, and said, " Thank you, thank 
you ; I am glad of it." I said, " Mr. Lincoln, if the object 
of your Government is the liberation from bondage of 
the poor slaves of the South, I should feel justified in 
accepting any position where I could best serve you ; but 
when I see so much tenderness for that vile institution 
and for the interests of slave-holders, I question whether 
your efforts to crush the rebellion will meet with the 
favor of Heaven," He replied : " I sincerely wish that 
all men were free, and I especially wish for the complete 
abolition of slavery in this country ; but my private wishes 
and feelings must yield to the duties of my position. My 
first duty is to maintain the integrity of the Union. 
With that object in view, I shall endeavor to save it, 
either with or without slavery. I have always been an 
anti-slavery man. Away back in 1839, when I was a 
member of the Legislature of Illinois, I presented a 
resolution asking for the emancipation of slavery in the 
District of Columbia, when, with but few exceptions, the 
popular mind of my State was opposed to it. If the 



ALEXANDER MILTON ROSS. 421 

institution of slavery is destroyed, and the slaves set free, 
as a result of this conflict which the slave-holders have 
forced upon us, I shall rejoice as heartily as you. In 
the meantime, help us to circumvent the machinations of 
the rebel agents in Canada. There is no doubt they will 
use your country as a communicating link with Europe, 
and also with their friends in New York. It is quite 
possible, also, that they may make Canada a base to harass 
and annoy our people along the frontier." 

After a lengthy conversation relative to private 
matters connected with my mission, I rose to leave, when 
he said : " I will walk down to Willard's with you ; the 
hotel is on my way to the Capitol, where I have an 
engagement at noon." 

Before we reached the hotel, a man came up to the 
President and thrust a letter into his. hand, at the same 
time applying for some office in Wisconsin. I saw that the 
President was offended at the rudeness, for he passed the 
letter back without looking at it, saying : " No, sir ! I am 
not going to open shop here." This was said in a most 
emphatic manner, but accompanied by a comical gesture 
which caused the rejected applicant to smile. As we 
continued our walk, the President spoke of the annoy- 
ances incident to his position, saying: "These office- 
seekers are a curse to this country ; no sooner was my 
election certain, than I became the prey of hundreds of 
hungry, persistent applicants for office, whose highest 
ambition is to feed at the government crib." When he 
bid me good-by, he said : " Let me hear from you once a 
week at least," As he turned to leave me a young army 
officer stopped him and made some request, to which the 



422 ALEXANDER MILTON ROSS. 

President replied with a good deal of humor : " No, 1 
can't do that ; I must not interfere ; they would scratch my 
eyes out, if I did. You must go to the proper department." 
As I watched the President wending his way towards 
the Capitol, I was deeply impressed with the dreadful xor- 
sponsibility that rested upon him. The hopes of millions 
of Republicans throughout the world were fixed upon 
him ; while twenty millions of his own people looked to 
him for the salvation of the Republic, and four millions 
of poor, down-trodden slaves in the South looked to him 
for freedom. Mr. Lincoln was no ordinary man. He had 
a quick and ready perception of facts, a retentive mem- 
ory, and a logical turn of mind, which patiently and un- 
waveringly followed every link in the chain of thought on 
every subject which he investigated. He was honest, 
temperate and forgiving. He was a good man, a man of 
noble and kindly heart. I never heard him speak un- 
kindly of any man ; even the rebels received no word 
of anger from him. 

MY SECOND VISIT TO WASHINGTON, 

On my arrival there (about midnight) I went direct 
to the Executive Mansion, and sent my card to the Pres- 
ident, who had retired to bed. In a few minutes the 
porter returned and requested me to accompany him to 
the President's office, where, in a short time, Mr. Lincoln 
would join me. The room into which I was ushered was 
the same in which I had spent several hours with the 
President on the occasion of my first interview with him. 
Scattered about the floor, and lying open on the table. 



ALEXANDER MILTON ROSS. 423 

were several military maps and documents, indicating 
recent use. On the wall hung a picture of that noble 
friend of freedom, John Bright, of England. 

In a few minutes the President came in and welcomed 
me in the most friendly manner ; I expressed my regret 
at disturbing him at such an hour. He replied in a good- 
humored manner, saying : " No, no ; you did right ; you 
may waken me up whenever you please. I have slept with 
one eye open ever since I came to Washington ; I never 
close both, except when an office-seeker is looking for me. 
I am glad," referring to a letter I had sent him, "you 
are pleased with the Emancipation Proclamation, but 
there is work before us yet. We must make that proc- 
lamation effective by victories over our enemies ; it is a 
paper bullet, after all, and of no account, except we can 
sustain it." I expressed my belief that God would aid 
the cause of the Union now that justice had been done 
to the poor negro. He replied : " I hope so ; the suffering 
and misery that attends this conflict is killing me by 
inches ; I wish it was over." 

I then laid before the President the "rebel mail." He 
carefully examined the address of each letter, making 
occasional remarks. At length he found one addressed 
to Franklin Pierce, ex-President of the United States, 
then residing in New Hampshire, and another to ex- 
Attorney-General Gushing, a resident of Massachusetts. 
He appeared much surprised, and remarked, with a sigh, 
but without the slightest tone of asperity : " I will have 
these letters inclosed in official envelopes, and sent to 
these parties." When he had finished examining the ad- 



424 ALEXANDER MILTON ROSS. 

dresses, he tied up all those addressed to private individ- 
uals, saying : " I won't bother with them, but these look 
like official letters ; I guess I'll go through them now." 
He then opened them, and read their contents, slowly 
and carefully. While he was thus occupied, I had an 
excellent opportunity of studying this extraordinary 
man. A marked change had taken place in his counte- 
nance since my first interview with him. He looked 
much older, and bore traces of having passed through 
months of painful anxiety and trouble. There was a sad, 
serious look in his eyes that spoke louder than words of 
the disappointments, trials and discouragements he had 
encountered since the war began. The wrinkles about 
the eyes and forehead were deeper ; the lips were firmer, 
but indicative of kindness and forbearance. The great 
strusfele had brought out the hidden riches of his noble 
nature, and developed virtues and capacities which sur- 
prised his oldest and most intimate friends. He was 
simple, but astute ; he possessed the rare faculty of seeing 
things just as they are ; he was a just, charitable and 
honest man. 

Having finished reading the letters, I rose to go, 
saying that I would go to " Willard's." and have a rest. 
" No, no," said the President, " it is now three o'clock ; 
you shall stay with me while you are in town ; I'll find you 
a, bed," and leading the way, he took me into a bedroom, 
saying : " Take a good sleep ; you shall not be disturbed." 
Bidding me "good-night " he left the room to go back 
;and pore over the rebel letters until daylight, as he 
afterwards told me. 



I ALEXANDER MILTON ROSS. 425 

If ever an individual was raised up by the Almighty 
to perform a special service, that person was Abraham 
Lincoln. No parent could evince a greater interest in 
the welfare of his family than he did for the safety and 
welfare of his country. Every faculty he possessed was 
devoted to the salvation of the Union. I did not awake 
from my sleep until eleven o'clock in the forenoon, soon 
after which Mr. Lincoln came into my room and laugh- 
ingly said : " When you are ready, I'll pilot you down to 
breakfast," which he did, and seating himself at the table 
near me, expressed his fears that trouble was brewing on 
the New Brunswick border ; that he had gathered further 
information on that point from the correspondence, which 
convinced him that such was the case. He was here in- 
terrupted by a servant who handed him a card, upon 
reading which he arose, saying: " The Secretary of War 
has received important tidings ; I must leave you for the 
present ; come to my room after breakfast, and we'll talk 
over this New Brunswick affair." 

On entering his room, I found him busily engaged in 
writing ; at the same time repeating in a low voice the 
words of a poem, which I remembered reading many 
years before. When he stopped writing I asked him 
who was the author of that poem. He replied : " I do 
not know. I have written the verses down from memory, 
at the request of a lady who is much pleased with them." 
He passed the sheet, on which he had written the verses, 
to me, saying: "Have you ever read them?" I replied 
that I had, many years previously, and that I should be 
pleased to have a copy of them in his handwriting, when 



426 ALEXANDER MILTON ROSS. 

he had time and inclination for such work. He said: 
"Well, you may keep that copy, if you wish." The 
following is the poem, as written down by Mr. Lincoln. 



^.ji.ys^^ 



Montreal, 1882. 



The saint, who enjoyed the communion of heaven, 
The sinner, who dared to remain unforgiven. 
The wise and the foolish, the guilty and just, 
Have quietly mingled their bones in the dust. 

So the multitude goes — like the flower or the weed, 
That witliers away to let others succeed ; 
So the multitude comes — even those we behold, 
To repeat every tale that has often been told. 

For we are the same our fathers have been ; 
We see the same sights our fathers have seen ; 
We drink the same stream, we view the same sun, 
And run the same course our fathers have run. 

The thoughts we are thinking, our fathers would think ; 
From tlie death we are shrinking, our fathers would shrink ; 
To the life we are clinging, they also would cling — 
But it speeds from us all, like a bird on the wing. 

They loved — but the story we cannot unfold ; 
They scorned — but the heart of the haughty is cold ; 
They grieved — but no wail from their slumber will come ; 
They joyed — but the tongue of their gladness is dumb. 

They died — ay, they died — we things that are now. 
That walk on the turf that lies over their brow, 
And make in their dwellings a transient abode. 
Meet the things that they met on their pilgrimage road. 



ALEXANDER MILTON ROSS. 427 

Vea I hope and despondency, pleasure and pain, 
Are mingled together in sunshine and rain ; 
And the smile and the tear, the song and the dirge, 
Still follow each other, like surge upon surge. 

'Tis the wink of an eye — 'tis the draught of a breath, 
From the blossom of health to the paleness of death ; 
From the gilded saloon to the bier and the shroud : — 
Oh ! why should the spirit of mortal be proud ? 

Oh ! why should the spirit of mortal be proud? — 
Like a swift-fleeing meteor, a fast-flying cloud, 
A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave, 
He passeth from life to his rest in the grave. 

The leaves of the oak and the willow shall fade, 
Be scattered around and together be laid ; 
And the young and the old, and the low and the high, 
Shall molder to dust and together shall lie. 

The infant, a mother attended and loved ; 
The mother, that infant's affection who proved ; 
The husband, that mother and infant who blest, — 
Each, all, are away to their dwellings of rest. 

The maid, on whose cheek, on whose brow, in whose eye, 
Shone beauty and pleasure — her triumphs are by. 
And the memory of those who loved her and praised, 
Are alike from the minds of the living erased. 

The hand of the king, that the scepter hath borne, 
The brow of the priest, that the miter hath worn. 
The eye of the sage and the heart of the brave, 
Are hidden and lost in the depths of the grave. 

The peasant, whose lot was to sow and to reap, 
The herdsman, who climbed with his goats up the steep. 
The beggar, who wandered in search of his bread, 
Have faded away like the grass that we tread. 



428 JOHN SHER AN— FREDERICK MERRICK. 



MR. LINCOLN possessed all the qualities requisite 
to inspire confidence and to unite all the loyal 
elements of our much-divided people in the great conflict 
of our civil war, when the possibility of Republican institu- 
tions, in a wide extended country, was on trial. At times 
I thought him slow, but he was fast enough to be abreast 
with the body of his countrymen, and his heart beat 
steadily and hopefully with them. 




Mansfield, i88i. 



WISE in council, prudent In action, firm upon 
necessity, humane always, patriotic, honest be- 
yond a shadow of suspicion, he sought his country's good 
in self-sacrificing devotion. Noble as were many of his 
acts, he will be chiefly known in history as the great 
Emancipator. 

Delaware, 1880. 



ROSE TERRY COOKE. 429 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

** STRANGULATUS PRO REPUBLICA." 

Hundreds there have been, loftier than their kind, 

Heroes and victors in the world's great wars : 

Hundreds, exalted as the eternal stars, 

By the great heart, or keen and mighty mind; 

There have been sufferers, maimed and halt and blind, 

Who bore their woes in sucii triumphant calm 

That God hath crowned them with the martyr's palm ; 

A.nd there were tiiose who fouglit through fire to find 

Their Master's face, and were by fire refined. 

But who like thee, oh Sire ! hath ever stood 

Steadfast for truth and right, when lies and wrong 

Rolled their dark waters, turbulent and strong; 

Who bore reviling, baseness, tears and blood 

Poured out like water, till thine own was spent, 

Then reaped Earth's sole reward — a grave and monument ! 



^Z^^^fC^— 




WiNSTED, 1882. 



430 NEWMAN HALL, 



MY admiration of the character of Abraham Lincoln 
has been put into permanent form in the erection 
of the " Lincoln Tower," adjoining my church. This 
structure cost £j,ooo. Half of it was given, with great 
readiness, by Britishers ; the other half was contributed 
in America. A stone over the principal entrance bears 
the honored name of Lincoln. Two class-rooms in it 
bear the names of Washinorton and Wilberforce. The 
spire is built in alternate stripes with stars between. A 
marble tablet explains the origin of the structure, and 
records the fact of the abolition of slavery by Lincoln. 
He nobly lived for freedom, and in its cause died a 
martyr's death. Few men in the world's history have 
been privileged to do a work involving so much benefit 
to mankind. 

London, i88i. 



CHARLES GA YARRE. 431 



I THINK Mr. Lincoln possessed much originality of 
character ; that he was humane and pure, kindly 
disposed toward the South, and that, whatever may have 
been his errors or deficiencies, he always meant to act 
according to what he considered patriotic motives and 
the dictates of an honest conscience. Hence I have no 
hesitation to declare that I have never ceased to be 
convinced that his tragic death, at the time it occurred, 
was a most fatal event for the Southern States, which I 
sincerely believe would have been treated with much 
more liberality by him than they had the good fortune 
to be after his assassination. 



New Orleans, 1882. 



(^ar^ ^tj^^y'^i^ 



432 E. W. DALE— PARKE GODWIN, 



PATRIOT, who made the pageantries of kings 
Like shadows seem, and unsubstantial things. 

EiRMINGHAM, ENGLAND, 1 88 1. 



THE name of Abraham Lincoln will stand forever, 
as the second in our history, following immediately 
that of George Washington. This one was the principal 
agent in emancipating the western continent from foreign 
domination, that one the principal agent in rescuing it 
from a domestic domination even more hurtful. Both 
were spotless apostles of human liberty. 

New York, 1880. 



STANLEY MATTHEWS— CH AS. W. DILKE. 



433 



THE memory of Abraham Lincoln is entombed in 
the hearts of the American people. Their love 
and gratitude are the columns which support the monu- 
ment of his fame, more enduring than bronze or marble. 
His will live forever, not only in the story of his country, 
but in the reverence and affection of his countrymen. 
The purity of his patriotism inspired him with the 
wisdom of a statesman and the courage of a martyr. 




Cincinnati, 1880. 



^ //c:3C:C::c:;^v6xVv:/ 



WITH profound admiration of Abraham Lin- 
coln. 



mA^ \j - 




fe 



House of Commons, 1881. 

28 



434 



JV. O. STODDARD. 



Y personal acquaintance with Mr. Lincoln began 
in 1858. Afterwards, as one of his secretaries 
at Washington, I had many opportunities for personal 
observations. There were many strong men grouped 
around him, from time to time ; statesmen, jurists, 
scholars, journalists, generals, diplomatists ; yet under no 
circumstances did he fail to make upon me the indelible 
impression that he was the greatest, the strongest, the 
noblest of them. I have never seen him speaking with 
any man who seemed to me his equal. 




MoRRiSANiA, 188: 



C. S. HARRINGTON. 435 



A SAGE in wisdom, worthy of the best of the 
ancients ; a man such as Diogenes would have 
been delighted to find ; a statesman of the school of 
sound common sense, and a philanthropist of the most 
practical type ; a patriot without a superior — his mon- 
ument Is a country preserved. His name will always 
be enrolled among the heroes and saviors of mankind. 

^ y^ /^a4^d^ ^ — 
1880. 



43^ 



/. C. BLACK. 



PLAIN in body and mind; simple and direct in 
speech ; great, rugged, sincere ; a passionate lover 
of liberty ; trained in the people's school to be their own 
unyielding instrument ; in his high career regarding 
their rights and prosperity ; lawyer enough to hold to the 
form until it antagonized the spirit of American law ; 
statesman enough not to kill the spirit for the form's 
sake — his reward is apotheosis ; his fame will widen to 
the utmost horizon of human growth. 




1880. 



i?. B. HAYES— GEORGE P. FISHER. 437 

NOW all men begin to see that the plain people, 
who at last came to love him and to lean upon 
his wisdom, and trust him absolutely, were altogether 
right, and that in deed and purpose he was earnestly 
devoted to the welfare of the whole country and of all 
its inhabitants. To him more than to any other man 
the cause of Union and Liberty is indebted for its final 
triumph. Lincoln was the very embodiment of the 
principles by which our country and its inhabitants were 
saved. 




Washington, 1880. 



r 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN had a sterling common 
x~\ sense, a vein of humor, a deep well of gentle, 
kindly feeling, a long-suffering patience, an unselfish 
patriotism, which, when viewed in connection with his 
death as a martyr for his country, are sufficient to secure 
for him a lasting place in the catalogue of the world's 
leaders. 



New Haven, 18S2. 




438 FRED. H. BOWMAN, 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

Great Champion of Freedom I When the blow 
Came from the traitor's hand — with one wild start 
A nation's love awoke, and every heart 
Stood still with sorrow. It was thine to sow 
The seeds of liberty, from whence shall grow 
New bonds to knit mankind. Tho' far apart — 
Sunder'd by oceans — with the lightning's dart 
The world was roused to share Columbia's woe. 
At thy command the manacles were burst, 
And the sad slaves came forth, forever free. 
His life was bought, but the price paid was first 
Thine own. 'Twas thine in Freedom's shrine to be 
The proto-martyr ; now throughout all time 
Thy name shall stand heroic and sublime. 



Halifax, 1882. 



WILLARD WARNER. 439 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN stands out on the pages of 
ir\. American history, unique, grand and pecuHar. As 
honest, unselfish and patriotic as Washington, he was his 
superior as an orator and logician, and dealt successfully 
with larger and graver matters. In tact he has never had 
an equal in this country. Mr. Salmon P. Chase once said 
to me that " his cunning amounted to genius." 

Like the mighty oak which towers far above its 
fellows, he was a growth of the forces of nature, which is 
to say, of God ; and one cannot resist the conclusion that 
he was prepared, in a special sense, by God, for the work 
he had to do. 




Tecumseh, 1882. 



440 WILLIAM WILLDER WHEILDON, 



THE world will readily admit that Abraham Lincoln 
was a very remarkable man in his character and 
career, as in the achievement which crowned his life with 
honor ; not, as is sometimes said, one of a thousand, but 
one of many thousands of much higher promise than 
attached to him in their early days ; and yet. his fame 
and the immortal character of his memory depends 
chiefly upon two acts, neither of which was, properly 
speaking, his own : one, the proclamation abolishing 
slavery, which was in a manner forced upon him and the 
country ; and the other his assassination, which was 
brought upon him, in whole or in part, by that act : the 
penalty, as it were, of one of the noblest deeds on record 
among mankind. 

It is common in this country, where no law of primo- 
geniture prevails, to find men born in the middling 
classes, or even lower classes, so-called, who reach sta- 
tions and positions of eminence. In this respect Mr. 
Lincoln sustained himself in every position he reached, 
or, we might almost say, that reached him. 

One might easily imagine that a common rail-splitter 
and woodman might become a boatman, or even, under 
circumstances, a soldier ; but who would ever dream of 
his becoming a lawyer, a politician, a legislator, a states- 
man, and, much less, the President of the nation and the 
head man of thirty or forty millions of people : one of 
the highest positions, few as they are in number, In the 
civilized world ? 



WILLIAM WILLDER WHEILDON. 441 

If any one had seen him splitting rails it would be 
natural enough to suppose he might some day become a 
river boatman ; and again, when acting as a river boat- 
man, it might occur to an observer, seeing his energy and 
readiness, that he would ultimately become captain of a 
raft, but few persons would have thought of anything 
beyond that. 

So, again, when he reached the bar — if there was any 
such thing as a bar at that time in the place where he 
practiced — it might possibly be thought, from his tact 
and efficiency as a counselor, that he might ultimately 
become a judge ; and yet again, who that ever knew him 
as a rail-splitter on his father's farm, or a boat-hand on 
the Mississippi river, or even as a lawyer, ever dreamed 
that he would reach the highest position in the nation — 
perform the highest act for human freedom ever dis- 
charged by man ? It is not to be denied that Abraham 
Lincoln had tact, which is often the equivalent of talent, 
and was able to qualify and adjust himself to every 
position to which he was elected or reached by his own 
efforts or the favor of his friends. 

Mr. Lincoln had acute sense of the absurd and 
ridiculous, of obstacles and objections, real or imaginary, 
and a quick wit, which held them to account and 
"broueht down the house" on all occasions. He was 
fond of relating a good practical story, illustrative of 
human life, which were often original with him, always 
apt to the occasion, and told with a gu^.to which was 
characteristic, and may be said to be a quality and a 
passion of his distinct personality. 

Strange to say, the life, career and death of President 



442 WILLIAM WILLDER WHEILDON. 

Garfield were, in many respects, parallel with those of 
Abraham Lincoln. Both were remarkable men and both 
are lamented by a nation of people and the wonder of 
the civilized world. 

The life of Abraham Lincoln was, as it were, a destiny 
unforeseen, uncontemplated, unrevealed, while it was 
progressive, almost without effort or expectation. 

Success, and that apparently unsought, seems to have 
ruled, guided and governed him, and gained for him a 
reputation and a fame not excelled by any American 
statesman. 

Concord, 1882. 



THOS. BURK—SAMUEL F. MILLER. 443 



HAVE great admiration for Lincoln. I regard him 
as one of the greatest men of our time. His fame 
s growing every day. 




House of Commons, 1882. 




R. LINCOLN, next to Washington, is the great 
central figure of our history in another genera- 
tion. As the lapse of time shall smooth the asperities 
of a civil war, and shall throw its mellowing influences 
over the stories of his early life, his public services as 
President, his character as a statesman and leader, will 
rise higher and shine more brightly, until it shall stand 
without a rival or a peer in the day to which he be- 
longed. 

Washington, 1880. 



444 ^^- H- GIBSON— L. C. HO UK. 



THE child of nature, Abraham Lincoln illustrated 
in his life the grand possibilities of the American 
citizen, and in his position of national Executive, he led a 
great people through the perils of civil war, preserving 
the integrity of the Union and breaking the fetters of four 
millions of God's poor. Patriot, statesman, emancipator, 
his name is immortal, and his memory will be cherished 
through all the advancing ages. 




Columbus, i88i. 



I REGARD Mr. Lincoln as being peculiarly great in 
many respects, and certainly possessed of more genius 
than any public man of the generation in which he lived. 
I have always, since studying his character, considered him 
as much a child of Providence as Moses or any one of the 
Prophets, excepting alone in the matter of inspiration, 
which, of course, was not human genius. 

Washington, i88i. 



STEWART L. WOODFORD. 



445 



BULL RUN found an administration zealous of inter- 
est, but irresolute as to method. It found a Pres- 
ident seeking the right, but modestly relying upon others 
and showing little faith in self. It left a sad-eyed, quaint- 
featured man, who from that hour, with one hand resting 
on the heart of the people and feeling constantly how and 
why that heart was throbbing, from thereafter accepted 
all the responsibility of his place. He moved and spoke 
thereafter as the people would have moved and spoken, 
had that people sat incarnate in his seat. Forever there- 
after, with humanity, but iron resolution, he directed the 
issue and bore himself the terrible burden of the strife. 




Extract from address before the army 
Potomac at Cleveland, 1872. 



OF 



446 CLINTON B. FJSK. 



I MOST heartily Indorse the enterprise for reveaHng to 
succeeding generations how large a place Abraham 
Lincoln had In the hearts of his countrymen. I knew 
and loved him well ; a letter from him, now before me, 
shows how, In the midst of the war for the Union, his 
thoughts were running on the best methods of restoring 
fraternity and good fellowship when the strife should be 
over. I was In command in Missouri, and in response to 
his inquiries touching the administration of the seml-civll- 
mllitary state of affairs then existing, I had the honor to 
suggest what he highly approved and adopted. With his 
own hand he wrote me as follows : 

" Executive Mansion, Washington, 
" October 13, 1863. 
' Gen'l Clinton B. Fisk, 

" Pilot Knob, Mo. 
" My Dear Gen'l : — I have received and read, with 
great satisfaction, your letter of the 8th Inst. It Is so full 
of charity and good will, I wish I had time to more than 
thank you for it. 

" Very truly yours, 

"A. Lincoln." 

I regarded Mr. Lincoln as the greatest man of his 
times, as the most unselfish and most honest ruler of the 
century. 



CLINTON B. FISK. 



447 



" Our hearts lie buried in the dust, 
Witla him so true and tender, 
The patriot's stay, the people's trust. 
The shield of the offender. 

" Let every murmuring heart be still, 
As, bowing to God's sovereign will 
Our best-loved we surrender." 

Whatever shall keep green the memory of Abraham 
Lincoln, let that be done. 




Seabright, 1882. 



T. W. S. KIDD. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 

LAWYER AND CITIZEN. 
By the "Crier of the Court." 

TO remember the sayings and acts of those with 
whom we come in every-day contact is a task 
made easier when the memory of events are of a pleasant 
character, sweetened by high personal regard. My 
recollections of Mr. Lincoln are all pleas int to memory. 
The bitterness of political campaigns could not poison the 
ordinary antagonist of Abraham Lincoln into the slight- 
est show of personal disrespect, while the influence of the 
eenial erandeur of his nature, on one who esteem.ed him 
personally, as I did, would wipe away the gauzy webs of 
aspersion woven by political spiders during the heat and 
excitement of a canvass. Politically I shall utter not an- 
other line nor syllable in reference to Mr. Lincoln — only 
this — I was not of Mr. Lincoln's party, hence what I may 
say of him will be outside of prejudice politically. My 
introduction to Mr. Lincoln personally, whom I had known 
by reputation as a leading Whig politician of Illinois, 
since the campaign of 1848, was in the spring of 1854. 
I was enofaofed in conversation with Dr. Harrison and 
Rev. Peter Cartwright, explaining to them the "Atkins 
Self-Raking Reaper," when Mr. Lincoln came up and the 
doctor gave me an introduction. He told me to proceed 
with the explanation, which I did, and he seemed to take 
quite a lively interest. At the close of the explanation 



T. W. S. KIDD. 449 

Mr. Lincoln surprised me not a little by remarking in his 
peculiar emphatic manner, " Young man, I think you are 
just the one I am looking for," and without giving me an 
opportunity to ask for what purpose he wanted me, he 
said, ' If you are through with the doctor and Uncle Peter, 
will you walk over to the state-house with me, I want to 
use you." I consented to go, remarking to Dr. Harrison, as 
I did so : " Doctor, I only know Mr. Lincoln as a Whig, but 
as the Whig party is dead, I suppose he will not be danger- 
ous." He laughed and we started, but after going about 
twenty feet turned and said, " Ho, Doc ! I hope our reaper 
friend will have better luck than some in this county who 
thought the Whig party was dead !" This was evidently 
intended as a "twit " at some old Whig politician, as both 
the doctor and the pioneer of Methodism had a hearty 
lauo-h over it. 

His use of me I soon learned; he showed me a 
number of pieces taken from two reaping-machines — the 
Manny and McCormick — vv^hich had been taken to his 
room for the purpose of studying the various movements,, 
to ascertain wherein one of the machines was an infrinee- 
ment of the patent granted to the other. Mr. Lincoln 
possessed but little practical knowledge of machinery,, 
but his fondness for the study of mechanics very much 
interested him, and he could very readily, with but little 
explanation, comprehend the uses of different parts and 
their relation to other parts. It was a pleasurable task 
for me to explain these two machines ; to aid him in 
ascertaining their movements ; in noting the difference 
or pointing out the mechanical equivalents of the one 
for the other, or where I thought the same principle was 

29 



450 T. W. S. KIDD. 

applied in the construction or operation of the various 
parts to accompHsh a specific purpose, or where the 
mechanism of the one differed from the other, although 
the end reached was the same. 

That little introduction knit two very opposite na- 
tures, in many respects, very closely together. Neither 
could, or at least did not, talk long upon a subject with- 
out a story was suggested, when it would flow out as 
natural as life, and frequently to the merriment of both. 
My business had naturally led me in contact with a great 
many stories, which it was the least of all my troubles to 
retain. I found one with an inexhaustible fund of them, 
and a taste for telling them unsurpassed. 

This was my introduction to Mr. Lincoln, and each 
day I came in contact with him in our closer relation of 
lawyer and "Crier of the Court" only strengthened our 
" fellow feeling," until, without appearing egotistic, I 
really loved Lincoln, and I had many evidences of his 
personal regard for myself. As a "story-teller" Mr. 
Lincoln has been misunderstood, and in this short article, 
if I can place him before the country robbed of what some 
natures — who never knew the man — would make appear 
as a "trifling" attribute in his genial "make-up." The 
impression has been sought to be left on the minds 
of those who have read some of the criticisms on his 
character that "story-telling" with Lincoln was an in- 
dication of a "great waste of time," and "a contribution 
to the indolent and shiftless of social life." This view 
<of Mr. Lincoln as a story-teller is a great wrong to his 
memory, and they who have measured him thus knew 
him not. Mr. Lincoln's stories were a recreation to him, 



T. W. S. KIDD. 



451 



and he only used them to relieve an over-taxed mind or 
to "make a point" by telling a story which would require 
hours of argument. As Linder once said to an Eastern 
lawyer, who expressed the opinion that Mr. Lincoln lost 
time in telling stories to a jury : " Ah, my friend ! Don't 
lay the flattering unction to your soul that he is losing 
time. Lincoln is like Tansey's horse, he 'breaks to 
win.' " Mr. Lincoln could tell a story as no other man I 
ever heard make the attempt. He had a purpose in 
telling them before juries and on the stump. He could 
annihilate an opponent with a story, and the other would 
scarcely know what hurt him. 

It will scarcely be presumed that he was always tell- 
ing; stories. It was the force of one of his well-told 
stories that gave him the reputation of a story-teller. 
Modesty would suggest to the "Crier of the Court" to 
close with this simple explanation. He would not have 
ventured thus much only to correct an error in regard to 
one whom those failing to understand the man would 
conclude that — 

"Every word he spoke, 
And even when he wrote. 
Out would pop a little joke, 
Or end with anecdote." 

He told Stories, very good ones, too, which we hope 
long to remember; but the mind which could grapple 
with questions requiring an army of a million men and 
ereat executive ability was made equal to the task by 
just such innocent recreation to self and amusement of 
his friends. 

As I have said in my lecture, so I repeat here, " Mr. 



452 T. W. S. KIDD. 

Lincoln has puzzled wiser heads than those supposed to 
be carried throucrh life on the shoulders of a Court Crier. 
Attempts to define and portray him are numerous. They 
are found floatinor on the sea of literature in every con- 
ceivable shape from contact with the waves of tribulation 
or success from the frequent jars and bumps on the rocks, 
as well as the shoals of criticism. I have not ventured 
on this sea with my flimsy bark to attempt a reputation at 
the expense of a lawyer I honored, a citizen whom I knew 
well and loved, but rather to give those not favored with 
the same relation a court officer bears to the attorney, a 
homely sketch of an honest man's private life, as a law- 
yer, his going in and coming out before a court, his daily 
walk and conversation, the little things of a great man's 
life which make up the great characteristics of which 
only the world at large sees and hears so little. 

"One of the finest fields for the study of characters 
that more frequently rise in splendid proportions than 
any other in this nation, is the court-room. Certainly no 
field or profession has proved so prolific in the produc- 
tion and development of ruling spirits, as that of the 
law. 

"As a lawyer Mr. Lincoln was not classed with the 
first of the profession in all the branches of the science. 
Others who still delight in having had a professional asso- 
ciation with him — an intimate acquaintance with him — 
while he lived and practiced law at the same bar, could 
justly lay claim to and would in equity be allowed credit for 
a greater amount of legal attainments, a more comprehen- 
sive knowledge of the premises in particular branches 
than he. But he possessed a general knowledge of all 



T. W. S. KIDD. 



453 



the branches. He had taken a draught from nearly all 
the various streams that flow from the one great well- 
spring of a ' Rule of action,' and was, in a word, a 
good lawyer. Mr. Lincoln could boast that in some 
branches of the law he had greater knowledge than some 
of his brothers ; had more freely than many others ana- 
lyzed the medicinal properties of these waters, with a 
view solely to ascertain their healing virtues for the ills 
of litigation. Mr. Lincoln was impressed with the idea, 
which should govern every honorable member of the pro- 
fession, that a lawyer's duty was to settle, not create 
litigation. 

"Judge Davis — who loved Mr. Lincoln as a brother 
— said of him: ' He was a great lawyer, both at Nisi 
Prills and before an appellate tribunal.' It was gen- 
erally thought among the members of the bar that his 
strength was most apparent when standing before a jury. 
How often have I heard his shrill and not unfrequently 
musical voice ring out the convincing notes from an in- 
tellect as vigorous, although not so quick to perceive, 
yet so comprehensive, exact and clear that they stamped 
him in the estimation of every listener as an able, im- 
pressive master of the intricacies of his case. He was an 
honest man and a lawyer, seldom, if ever, allowing him- 
self to be found on the wrong side of a case. It was to 
this fact more than to any other that he owed his success 
at the bar. In canvassing his success as a lawyer and 
statesman it has been my privilege to hear almost every 
shade of opinion expressed of him by members of the 
Springfield bar. But, Crier only as I claim to have 
been, I think the great secret has been overlooked, and 



454 T. W. S. KJDD. 

with all due deference to opinions that I have seldom 
found erroneous, I beg to suggest his extraordinary 
moral courage to do the right, regardless of the conse- 
quences, as the secret lever that lifted him slowly but 
steadily above his fellows when contending with brothers 
at the bar, or afterward, as the Chief of a great nation, 
under the most complicated and trying circumstances." 




/. GILLESPIE. 455 



I HAVE been requested to give my recollections 
touching the life of Abraham Lincoln, late President 
of the United States. I understand that it is not expected 
that I should prepare a life or biography of him, but 
simply give such incidents as would illustrate his charac- 
ter and minor life. So much has been said and written 
respecting the public history of the great commoner of 
America, that I feel that it would be a work of supereroga- 
tion in me to attempt a review of his public career. I shall 
confine myself in what I shall say to what I know of 
Abraham Lincoln as a man, and his political life, at home 
or in Illinois. In order to give assurance that I had the 
acquaintance, and to some degree the confidence, of the 
illustrious man, I will give a copy of a letter from him to 
me, now in my possession ; but I will first premise the 
circumstances under which it was written. In 1857 and 
1858, William Bissell, a Republican, was Governor of 
Illinois. The Democrats at the session of the Legisla- 
ture of those years obtained a majority in the Legisla- 
ture, and passed two acts, an appropriation bill, and ai 
apportionment bill, the latter of which the Governor in- 
tended to veto, and the former to approve. The bills re- 
sembled each other in external appearance and were both 
laid upon the Governor's table at the same time, and by 
mistake he approved of the bill he intended to veto, which 
was reported to the House as having been sanctioned 
by the Executive. In a short time the Governor was 
made aware of his mistake, and he instantly convened a 



456 /. GILLESPIE. 

meeting of such of his friends as could be summoned, to 
consuh as to the best means to extricate himself from the 
dilemma. N. B. Judd, of Chicago, Mr. Lincoln, I believe, 
Gov. Koerner, of St. Clair, and I, were of the number. 
We advised Governor Bissell to instantly send his messen- 
ger to the House, and request the return of the bill. The 
majority, not suspecting anything, complied with the re- 
quest, and the Governor erased\\\'s> name. The Democrats 
employed General McClernand to apply for a writ of 
mandamus to compel the Secretary of State, Hatch, to 
report the apportionment bill as having received the 
Executive approval and become a law. Here is the 
letter : 

"Springfield, January 19, 1851. 
" Hon. Joseph Gillespie. 
" My Dear Sir : 

" This morning Colonel McClernand 
showed me a petition for a mandamus against the 
Secretary of State to compel him to certify the ap- 
portionment act of last session, and he says it will be 
presented to the court to-morrow morning. We shall be 
allowed three or four days to get up a return, and I for 
one want the benefit of consultation with you. Please 
come right up. 

" Yours, as ever, 

"A. Lincoln." 

I visited him as desired, and agreed with him as to the 
line of defense he should pursue, and after a few days re- 
ceived the following letter : 



/. GILLESPIE. 457 

"Springfield, February 7th, 1858. 
" Hon, J. Gillespie. 

" My Dear Sir: 

" Yesterday morning the court over- 
ruled the demurrer to Hatch's return in the mandamus 
case. McClernand was present, said nothing about plead- 
ing over, and so I suppose the matter is ended. The 
court gave no opinion for the discussion, but Peck tells 
\ me confidentially that they were unanimous in the 
opinion that even if the Governor had signed the bill 
purposely, he had the right to strike his name off so long 
as the bill remained in his custody to control. 

" Yours as ever, 

" A. Lincoln." 

So much has been said about Mr. Lincoln that I 
hardly know how I shall go about giving my views 
touchine or delineatinor his life and character without 
travelincT in old grooves. Mr. Lincoln seldom said any- 
thing on the subject of religion. He said once to me that 
he never could reconcile the " prescience of Deity with 
the uncertainty of events." I inferred from that remark 
that his antecedents were of the Baptist persuasion. He 
said at the same time that he thought it was unprofitable 
to discuss the dogmas of predestination and free will. 
After he became President he told me that circumstances 
had happened during the war to induce him to a belief 
in " special providences." I think his mind was unsettled 
on religious matters until his election, and he surveyed 
the vast responsibilities cast upon him. After that, it 
seemed to me that he became religiously inclined. It was 



458 /. GILLESPIE. 

difficult for him to believe without demonstration. He 
was tip in Bible reading and quoted from and illustrated 
by Bible incidents. To give an instance, I called upon 
him, to get his opinion as to the probabilities of the 
conclusion of the war. He said it would very soon be 
ended by the overthrow of the rebellion. " Now," said 
I, " Mr. Lincoln, what is to be done with the rebels ?'' 
" Well," said he, " some people think their heads ought 
to come off, but there are too many of them for that, and 
if it was left to me, I could not draw the line between 
those whose heads ought to come off or stay on." He 
said he was favorably impressed with the policy of King 
David. Said I : " What was that?" " Well," said he, " you 
remember that during the rebellion of Absalom, while 
David was fleeing from Jerusalem, Shimei cursed him. 
After the rebellion was put down, Shimei craved a 
pardon. Abishai, David's nephew, the son of Zeruiah, 
David's sister, said : ' This man ought not to be pardoned ; 
he cursed the Lord's anointed.' David said unto him : 
' what have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye 
should this day be adversaries unto me ? Know ye that 
not a man shall be put to death in Israel.' " This reference 
not only indicated Mr. Lincoln's policy, but also his 
humanity, which is evidenced by an incident I will relate. 
One evening Mr. Joshua F. Speed, of Louisville, and I ac- 
companied Mr. Lincoln to the Soldiers' Home, to spend the 
night with him. While we were at tea, it was announced 
that a deleofation were in the anteroom. Mr. Lincoln im- 
mediately went to see them ; Speed and I remained at the 
table. We soon heard that the delegation were from New 
Jersey, and that they were importuning the President to 



/. GILLESPIE. 459 

pardon some young men from that State, who had de- 
serted, were recaptured and sentenced by a court-martial 
to be shot, in a few days. One of the delegation was a 
brother to one who was under sentence, and he appealed 
to Mr. Lincoln with terrible earnestness. The President 
combated his views with invincible arguments. He 
pointed out that it would be disastrous to the cause if 
he should pardon men who had deserted their colors, 
while the armies were confronting each other ; he had no 
right under such circumstances to expect the men who 
had remained in the ranks to do their duty. My heart 
almost sank within me when Mr. Lincoln dismissed them, 
saying that he would give them a definite answer at the 
White House at nine o'clock the next morning. Speed 
and I, after tea, had come into the room and listened to 
the discussion, after the delegation left. I was much 
afraid that Mr. Lincoln had made up his mind not to 
pardon the young men. Speed, who I know had more 
influence with the President than any living being, sug- 
gested that we should tackle him and beg for the boys, 
which we did in good earnest. We plied him with all the 
reasons we could muster, and still I was afraid we were 
not gaining ground. When it came to be time to retire, I 
said to Mr. Lincoln that I did not think I could sleep 
unless I knew that he was going to pardon the boys. He 
said: " Gillespie, I can't tell you." "Well," said I, "you 
can give me an inkling." Said he, " All I can say is that I 
have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict 
justice!' In the morning the delegation were ahead of 
time and they were rejoiced beyond measure to receive 
the pardon for their friends. Mr. Lincoln was a very 



46o /. GILLESPIE. 

humane man, but at the same time he was wonderfully 
just and firm. If it was possible for him to exercise 
clemency without doing wrong, he would do so. He told 
me, one evening, that since he saw me in the morning, 
he had received some distressing intelligence. He had 
been notified by Ould, Commissioner (I think he called 
him) for Exchange in the rebel army, that a large number 
of prisoners captured and paroled at Vicksburg had been 
put into the field. I said I did not perceive why that 
should distress him ; that it only amounted to our having 
a few more to fight. " Ah," said he, " look at it in this 
light ; these men are liable to be shot when captured 
unless I prohibit it, and the responsibility rests on me to 
say whether the laws of war shall be carried out, in the 
case of those men, or suspended. What would you do if in 
my place ? " said he. I said : " It is too big a question for 
me," " Well," said he, " it is a momentous question, and 
must be decided at once, and I have about made up my 
mind that those men have been forced into the field, and 
that it would be unmerciful to have them shot." As a boon 
companion, Mr. Lincoln, although he never drank a drop 
of liquor, or used tobacco in any form, in his life, was 
without a rival. No one would ever think of putting in 
while he was talking. He could illustrate any incident, 
it seemed to me, with an appropriate and amusing anec- 
dote. He did not tell stories just for the sake of telling 
them, but invariably by way of illustration of something 
that had happened or been said. There seemed to be no 
end to his fund. I could relate hundreds of his stories, 
but time and space forbid it. I will give a circumstance 
showing his power to amuse. In 1842 (I think), after 



/. GILLESPIE. 461 

Mr. Van Buren's defeat, he and Mr. Paulding took an 
excursion through the West ; they informed their friends 
that they would reach Springfield, 111., by a certain 
evening. The Springfield people knew that the bad state 
of the roads would prevent them getting further thar 
Rochester, about seven miles from Springfield, that day; 
and as accommodations at the place were horrible, Mr. 
Van Buren's friends concluded to meet him there with re- 
freshments and make the night pass off as pleasantly as 
circumstances would permit. Mr. Lincoln, although a 
Whig, was pressed into the service, and was told to use 
his best endeavors to entertain the distinguished guests, 
in which he succeeded admirably. Ebenezer Peck, a great 
admirer of Mr. Van Buren, told me he had never passed 
a more joyous night. '' Lincoln told his qjieerest stories', 
Van Buren's laugh was ready chorus." Mr. Van Buren 
said that for days after his sides were sore from laughing 
at Lincoln's humor. Physically, Mr. Lincoln was a 
Hercules. I first saw him in 1832, while he was engaged 
in a wrestling-match with one Dan Thompson, who was 
the champion, in that line, of the southern portion of 
Illinois, while Lincoln occupied that position as to what 
was then the northern portion. It was a terrible tussle, 
but Lincoln was too much for him. Mr. Lincoln was a 
very indulgent husband and father ; while at Springfield, 
his children were constantly with him, romping and play- 
inor. The truth is, his affection was so stronsf that he 
had but little government over them, audit was painful 
to see him when allusion was made to the death of his 
son Willie. As a lawyer he was peculiar, and never 
gave an opinion until he had reflected upon the case. He 



462 /. GILLESPIE. 

went into court with his subject thoroughly analyzed, and 
would discard every doubtful point and concentrate all of 
his powers upon the tap-root of his case. Analysis and 
concentration were the characteristics of his mind. He 
had no ceremony in his temper, and treated every one 
with the utmost consideration and respect. Mr. Lincoln 
cared nothing about money-making, and had no concep- 
tion of a speculation. He said he had no money sense. 
He had a realizing sense that he was generally set down 
by city snobs as a country Jake, and would accept, in a 
public-house, any place assigned to him, whether in the 
basement or the attic, and he seldom called at the table 
for anything, but helped himself to what was within 
reach. Indeed, he never knew what he did eat. He said 
to me once that he never felt his own utter unworthi- 
ness so much as when in the presence of a hotel clerk or 
waiter. Mr. Lincoln was very tender-hearted. I called 
at the White House and was detained a considerable time 
in the anteroom, which was filled with persons waiting 
their turn to be admitted to the, President. While there, 
I met with an old lady who said she had been several 
days waiting to see Mr. Lincoln; that she wanted to get 
permission to see her son, who was a soldier lying at the 
point of death ; that she was unable to obtain permission 
from the Secretary of War. I told her that if I gained 
admittance before she did, I would speak to the Pres- 
ident about her case. She said she had been told that he 
was a very kind-hearted man. Just about this time, Mr. 
Lincoln's barber, whom I had known in Springfield, 
Illinois, came out of Mr. Lincoln's room and, seeing me, 
offered to take me in by a private door, which I accepted. 



/. GILLESPIE. 463 

While shaking hands with the President, I mentioned the 
case of the old lady, and he remarked that his greatest 
tribulation consisted in the fact that it was impossible for 
him to give prompt attention to such cases, but he directed 
the old lady to be shown in, and without hesitation, 
granted her request. He saw in an instant that she was 
honest. I have heard Joshua F. Speed, of Louisville, re- 
late an incident illustrative of Mr. Lincoln's character, 
which redounded to the advantage of the country. It 
was at a time when the want of money was paralyzing 
the Government. Stewart and Astor and other capital- 
ists had assembled to consider whether they would 
adv^ance funds to meet the pressing necessities of the 
case. While those men were conferring with the Pres- 
ident on the momentous question, an old gentleman and 
lady made their appearance, who turned out to be very 
particular friends of Mr. Lincoln, who broke up the con- 
ference with the capitalists, to greet, in his most cordial 
manner, his old friends. The effect upon Messrs. 
Stewart, Astor and others was electrical. They declared 
that they would have no hesitation to aid a Government 
at the head of which was a man so true to his old 
friends. 




Edwardsville, 1882. 



464 S. S. cox— THOMAS CHASE. 



HIS sense of humor was as logical as his mind was 
clear and his heart generous. I knew him well 
before he was Chief Executive, and he was the best 
companion ; bigger by far in the noblest sense of courtesy 
and heartiness than any man I ever knew, except his great 
rival. Judge Douglas. 




New York, 1880. 



A MAN of a style of greatness which is the best 
product of free institutions, and of them alone ; a 
man whose glory it was that his chief desire was to do 
the right, and to promote the right ; whose watchword 
was Duty ; and whose warmest aspiration the removal of 
all weights and hindrances which hold men back from 
their highest social, intellectual and religious develop- 
ment. 

1880. 




CAVALRY GROUP OF tJTATUARY. NATIONAL LINCOLN MONUMENT. 

Representins; the rearing figure of a horse, from wliose Tjack bis ruler has just been thrown, 
and the wounded trunipettT, who is enpported by a couipauioii. 



/. G. -HOLLAND— ANSON G. M'COOK. 465 



WHEN I began, a few weeks after his death, to 
write the Hfe of Abraham Lincoln, I entertained 
a profound respect for his strong mind, his tender heart, 
and the memory of his beneficent hfe. When I wrote 
the last page of the book, I had become his affectionate 
admirer and enthusiastic partisan. 

New York, 1880. 



HIS services were of such inestimable value to the 
republic, and his life so identified with the 
struggle to maintain it, that no ordinary volume would 
be sufficient to more than touch upon them. 




Washington, 1880. 

80 



466 



H. W. LONGFELLOW. 



U 



NABLE to do more than wish the undertaking 
great success. 



^o(\a,v_,^f^ 




/vS a a: 

Cambridge, March 13, 1882, 




M. R. WAITE. 467 



I HAVE always thought Mr. Lincoln was a man born 
for his time. He was a leader without seeming to 
be. He, more than any other man during his presidency, 
stood at the helm of State. Through his skill, which 
was only the best of common sense, we were taken by 
the only channel that led from secession to the true 
dictum of "an indestructible Union, composed of in- 
destructible States." He died as he lived, a great states- 
man, who knew enough of the ways of politics to make 
his statesmanship practically useful. 

Washington, 1882. 



468 JESSE IV. FELL. 



IF there was any one trait in the make-up of that illus- 
trious man that stood out more conspicuously than 
any other, it was, to use a favorite word of his, his fairness 
— his habitual, ever-recurring sense of justice. As an illus- 
tration of this, I offerforthe Lincoln Memorial Album 
a few recollections of his bearing towards his great politi- 
cal rival, Stephen A. Douglas : for great he, too, truly was, 
as a popular and sensational debater and political man- 
ager, to say nothing of his acknowledged ability in other 
directions. 

The passage of the Kansas- Nebraska Bill — of which he 
was the admitted champion — in the spring of 1854, in open 
violation of both letter and spirit of the Missouri Com- 
promise Act of 1 820, throwing out that immense district of 
country covered by these Territories — now States — to 
the baneful institution of human slavery, was claimed to 
be a manifest breach of national good faith ; and so re- 
pugnant was it to the sentiment of the Northern people, 
that it roused up a storm of popular indignation all over 
the North, unequaled in the previous history of the coun- 
try. In no part of that country, Kansas alone excepted, 
did that excitement run higher than here in Illinois ; as an 
evidence of which, about that time, or soon after, scores 
of law-abiding men armed themselves with Sharpe's 
rifles, and fled from our midst to the plains of " Bleeding 
Kansas" — then so-called — whilst many others contributed 
freely of their means to accomplish a common object, 



JESSE JV. FELL. 469 

to zvi'L make Kansas a free State ; the battle-eround 
being almost wholly confined to that State. 

Senator Douglas, having not only introduced and 
voted for that Bill, but making the leading speech in its 
support, was the object of special hostility and criticism 
here and everywhere. He labored to justify the act on 
the ground of what he denominated "popular sovereign- 
ty " — plausibly contending it was equally fair to both 
sections of the Union ; and that, as the free State men 
were not only more numerous, but more active in their 
movements than the Southern people, they would take 
possession of and organize into free States both of these 
Territories ; a view, the correctness of which — in the lat- 
ter regard — was vindicated by subsequent history, though 
not till a series of outrages had been perpetrated, unp:ir- 
alleled in the history of popular governments. The oppo- 
sition contended that, as that Territory had in the most 
solemn manner, and as a peace-offering for the preserva- 
tion of the Union, been dedicated to freedom, when Mis- 
souri was admitted into the Union, the passage of the Bill 
exhibited an unmanly, servile pandering to the slave 
power of the South, that up to that time, and for many 
years preceding, had dominated all legislation on the 
slavery question, and in various ways been very aggres- 
sive on the rights of Northern people. The result was 
an intensely bitter political excitement ; so bitter as to 
not only mar, but almost to destro}' social enjoyment be- 
tween ordinary politicians holding adverse opinions on 
this subject. 

These two men were the Magnus Apollos of their re- 
spective parties ; for although the Republican party had 



470 JESSE W. FELL. 

not then been fully crystallized into a political organiza- 
tion, it was in a process of formation, and Lincoln was 
everywhere in Illinois our admitted standard-bearer. 

Notwithstanding the high party-excitement referred 
to, his love of fair play shone out most conspicuously. 
Judge Douglas, fully apprised of the state of public feel- 
ing, had given out that on his return from Washington 
he would address the people on the exciting topic of the 
times, and in pursuance thereof a Democratic meeting 
was called at Bloomington on the 19th day of September, 
1854. After conferring with our Anti-Nebraska friends — • 
as we were then commonly called — I opened a correspon- 
dence with Mr. Lincoln, resulting in his coming to 
Bloomington on that day, in order to take notes and 
reply to Mr. Douglas, if the way opened, on the same 
day, and if not, in the evening. This fact became pretty 
widely known, and a very large meeting, composed of 
quite as many Anti-Nebraska men as Democrats, met in 
the orrove near town — no hall we then had belns^ sufficient 
to hold the crowd. In order that the country people 
should have the benefit of the discussion, there was a 
universal desire, on the part of our friends, that Lincoln 
as well as Douglas should be heard in the day-time, and 
I had been requested to see Lincoln on his arrival and 
get his approval that we propose to, and tirge upon the 
Judge to divide time, so as to have a joint discussion. 

With what little ability I could command, I did so, 
emphasizing the fact that a large majority of those we 
most desired to reach could not be heard unless this 
arrangement was made ; and that in the absence of such 
an agreement it would be quite difficult to restrain within 



JESSE W. FELL. 471 

bounds the clamor of the people to hear him. I shall 
never forget his very prompt and decisive reply, which 
was substantially this : " Fell, this is not our meeting ; 
it is Judge Douglas's meeting ; he called it, and he and 
his friends have a ricrht to control it. Notwithstandinof 
all you say about our country people, and the great desire 
I have to talk to them, we must do nothing to defeat his 
object in calling it. He has heard of the great racket the 
passage of his Bill has kicked up, and he wants to set 
himself right with his people, a job not very easily done, 
you and I being the judges. Partly on this ground and 
partly to keep me from speaking, he will no doubt con- 
sume so much of the time that I'll have no chance till 
in the evening, I fully appreciate all you say about our 
country friends, and would like mighty well to talk to 
them on this subject. If Judge Douglas will give me a 
chance I will follow him out in the grove, but as he won't 
do this, I guess you may give it out, after he is done, 
that I will reply to him after candle lighting in the court- 
house." 

This speech settled the matter. I will only add, in 
conclusion, our Anti-Nebraska friends were greatly dis- 
appointed at not getting his approval of some pretty 
active (perhaps I should say aggressive) demonstrations, 
to secure a division of time in the discussion ; that, as we 
anticipated, the afternoon was consumed by the Judge ; 
that so intense was the desire to hear Lincoln in the day- 
time, it was found quite difficult to repress a perfect 
avalanche of popular calls for our hero to be heard ; and 
that, in the evening, he held forth at the old court-house 
to all that could get in it, or within hearing distance, in a 



472 JESSE W. FELL. 

most logical, eloquent and Inspiring speech on the dis- 
turbed and perturbed condition of the country, and the 
consequent duties we owed to that country, and to a 
common humanity, in resisting, to the bitter end, this last 
aggression on Northern rights. In power and pathos, 
mingled with the playful and humorous, he seldom, if 
ever, acquitted himself more grandly. 

It may not be amiss to say that before speaking com- 
menced I called on Judge Douglas, who, as we had antici- 
pated, politely declined the proffered debate ; in do'ng 
which he made some amusing, though good-natured, 
remarks about the uncertain character of our party, 
which in truth was, at that time, far from being of a very 
compact or coherent order, either in name or creed. 

I repeat, it was Lincoln's love of justice, his habitual, 
ever-active sense of right, and the practice of it, that 
made him so strong with the people ; and such I know is 
the opinion of him whose name, more than any other, is 
linked with his; I mean Judge David Davis, with whom 
he spent so much of his life, here in Illinois, as a practic- 
ing attorney around our old judicial circuit. 

In the fall of 1858, during the discussion between 
Senator Douglas and Mr. Lincoln, I had occasion to 
visit the Middle and Eastern States ; and as the whole 
country was then agitated by the slavery question and 
that discussion cut a prominent figure In the agitation, 
I was frequently applied to for Information In reference 
to Mr. Lincoln. I felt my State pride flattered by these 
Inquiries, and still more to find the JVew York Trzbtinc, 
and other papers, publishing copious extracts from these 
discussions, taken from the Chicago press. I did what 



JESSE IV. FELL. 473 

little I could to satisfy so laudable a curiosity, not think- 
ing, at first, that anything further would come of this 
discussion, in reference to Mr, Lincoln, than his election 
to the Senate. At length, from the frequency of these 
inquiries and public notices of the Illinois contest, an 
impression began to form, that by judicious efforts he 
could be made the Republican candidate for presidency 
in i860. Very soon after my return home, and after the 
senatorial contest had closed, one evening, as I passed 
on the south side of the public square of this city, I 
espied the tall form of Mr. Lincoln emerging from the 
court-house door, Judge Davis's court then being in 
session. I stopped until he came across the street, when, 
after the usual salutations, I asked him to go with me 
into my brother's (K. N. Fell) laAv-office, then kept over 
what is now the Home Bank. There we sat down, and 
in the calm twilight of the evening, had substantially the 
following conversation : — Fell. — " Lincoln, I have been 
East, as far as Boston, and up into New Hampshire, 
traveling in all the New England States, save Maine : 
in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan 
and Indiana; and everywhere I hear you talked about. 
Very frequently I have been asked : ' Who is this man 
Lincoln, of your State, now canvassing in opposition to 
Senator Douglas ?' Being, as you know, an ardent 
Republican and your friend, I usually told them we had 
in Illinois two giants instead of one ; that Douglas was 
the little one, as they all knew, but that you were the big 
one, which they didn't all know. 

" But, seriously, Lincoln, Judge Douglas being so wide- 
ly known, you are getting a national reputation through 



474 JESSE W. FELL. 

him, as the result of the late discussion ; your speeches, 
in whole or in part, on both sides, have been pretty 
extensively published in the East ; you are there regarded 
by discriminating minds as quite a match for him in 
debate, and the truth is, I have a decided impression 
that if your popular history and efforts on the slavery 
question can be sufficiently brought before the people, 
you can be made a formidable, if not a successful, 
candidate for the presidency." 

Lincoln. — " Oh, Fell, what's the use of talking of me 
for the presidency, whilst we have such men as Seward, 
Chase and others, who are so much better known to the 
people, and whose names are so intimately associated 
with the principles of the Republican party. Everybody 
knows them ; nobody, scarcely, outside of Illinois, knows 
me. Besides, is it not, as a matter of justice, due ,to 
such men, who have carried this movement forward to its 
present status, in spite of fearful opposition, personal 
abuse, and hard names ? I really think so." 

Fell. — " There is much truth in what you say. The 
men you allude to, occupying more prominent positions, 
have undoubtedly rendered a larger service in the Re- 
publican cause than you have ; but the truth is, they have 
rendered too much service to be available candidates. 
Placing it on the grounds of personal services, or merit, 
if you please, I concede at once the superiority of their 
claims. Personal services and merit, however, when in- 
compatible with the public good, must be laid aside 
Seward and Chase have both made lonof records on the 
slavery question, and have said some very radical things 
which, however just and true in themselves, and howevei 



JESSE IV. FELL. 475 

much these men may challenge our admiration for their 
courage and devotion to unpopular truths, would seriously 
damage them in the contest, if nominated. We must 
bear in mind, Lincoln, that we are yet in a minority; we 
are struggling against fearful odds for supremacy. We 
were defeated on this same issue in 1856, and will be 
again in i860, unless we get a great many new votes from 
what may be called the old conservative parties. These 
will be repelled by the radical utterances and votes of 
such men as Seward and Chase. What the Republican 
party wants, to insure success, in i860, is a man ot 
popular origin, of acknowledged ability, committed 
against slavery aggressions, who has no record to defend 
and no radicalism of an offensive character to repel votes 
from parties hitherto adverse. Your discussion with 
Judge Douglas has demonstrated your ability and your 
devotion to freedom ; you have no embarrassing record ; 
you have sprung from the humble walks of life, sharing 
in its toils and trials ; and if we can only get these tacts 
sufficiently before the people, depend upon it, there is 
some chance for you. And now, Mr. Lincoln, I come to 
the bitsiness part of this interview. My native State, 
Pennsylvania, will have a large number of votes to cast 
for somebody on the question we have been discussing. 
Pennsylvania don't like, over much, New York and her 
politicians. She has a candidate, Cameron, of her own ; 
but he will not be acceptable to a larger part of her own 
people, much less abroad, and will be dropped. Thnjagh 
an eminent jurist and essayist of my native county \\\ 
Pennsylvania, fa^'orably known throughout the State, I 
want to get up a well-considered, well-written newspaper 



476 JESSE W. FELL. 

articles, telling the people who you are and what you 
have done, that it may be circulated, not only in that 
State, but elsewhere, and thus help in manufacturing 
sentiment in your favor. I know your public life, and 
can furnish items that your modesty would forbid, but I 
don't know much about your private history : when you 
were born, and where, the names and origin of your 
parents, what you did in early life, what your oppor- 
tunities for education, etc., and I want you to give me 
these. Won't you do it ?" 

Lincoln. — "Fell, I admit the force of much that you 
say, and admit that I am ambitious, and would like to be 
President. I am not insensible to the compliment you 
pay me, and the interest you manifest in the matter; but 
there is no suck good luck in sto7^efor me as tke presidency 
of tkese United States; besides, there is nothing in my 
early history that would interest you or anybody else ; and, 
as Judge Davis says, 'It zuont pay.' Good night." 

And thus ended, for the time being, my pet scheme 
of helping to make Lincoln President. I notified him, 
however, as his giant form, wrapped in a dilapidated 
shawl, disappeared in the darkness, that this was not the 
last of it ; that \\\q. facts must come. The next year, 1859, 
I was engaged much of the time as the corresponding 
secretary of the Republican State Central Committee, in 
traveling over the State and in carrying out plans for a 
more thorough organization of the Republican party, 
preparatory to the great contest of 1S60. I visited per- 
sonally a large majority of the counties in the State, and 
nearly everywhere had the satisfaction of learning that, 
though many doubted the possibility of nominating 



JESSE W. FELL. 477 

Lincoln, most generally It was approved of. This fact 
became in time very apparent to Lincoln himself, whom 
I not infrequently met in my travels ; and in the month 
of December of that year, feeling that perhaps it ivould 
" pay," I induced him to place in my hands this emi- 
nently characteristic paper. Such is the history of a 
paper that has already become historic, and which, to me 
at least, has a value I little dreamed of at the time. 

"Springfield, Dec. 20, 1859. 
"J. W. Fell, Esq. 

" My Dear Sir: 

" Herewith is a little sketch, as you re- 
quested. There is not much of it, for the reason, I 
suppose, that there is not much of me. If anything be 
made out of it, I wish it to be modest, and not to go 
beyond the materials. If it was thought necessary to 
incorporate anything from any of my speeches, I suppose 
there would be no objections. Of course, it must not 
appear to have been written by myself. 

" Yours very truly, 

"A. Lincoln." 

"Normal, Illinois, March 9, 1882. 
'' Osborn H. Oldroyd, Springfield, 111. 
" My Dear Sir : 

"It is with much pleasure that I have 
learned of your purpose to erect at Springfield, Illinois, 
a " Memorial Hall," in which is to be stored whatever is 
interesting as connected with, or illustrating the life and 
character of that most remarkable man and patriot. 



478 



JESSE IV. FELL. 



Abraham Lincoln. In answer to your polite request for 
the original manuscript of what is known as the " Auto- 
biography of Abraham Lincoln," I herewith present you 
that paper, to be placed in your large and valuable 
collection of memorials of Mr. Lincoln. Not doubting 
your great success in so patriotic an undertaking, I am, 
with sincere respect, 

" Yours truly, 




Normal, 1882. 



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VIRGINIA A. FRAZER. 483 



1861 — 1865. 

THE cry for " Freedom " or for " Death " resounds, 
From frozen lake to Mississippi's mouth 
Tlie rugged mind of Lincoln guides the North, 
The gray-eyed eagle Davis leads the South. 

On ! on ! they come ! the while tlie scythe of gray 
Sweeps low the lines of blue, like autumn leaves ; 

The eager mouths of earth quaff deep of gore ; 
The granaries of Death heap high with slieaves. 

Steel clashes steel ! and now the twofold cry 
Bursts from the stern lips of the nation's head, 

The patriot's cry for " Union," " Freedom " rings 
Through all the land, and eclioes mid the dead. 

And patriotism swells the surging tide, 

With mighty liosts unnumbered as the stars — 

" One country" stirs the patriot of the North, 

And nerves his sinews for the " War of Wars !" 

On ! on ! and now the banners of the South 
Bend low to meet the kiss the dying give ; 

The South yields to the hosts — her cause is lost — 
Yet, though subdued, her Truth and Honor lives! 

Now Lincoln's hand has caught the Union flag, 
And firmly nailed it to the ship of State ; 

He stands to pilot her into the port — 
To sternly meet the stern decree of fate. 

And now — a horror falls upon tlie land, 

The pulses of the North beat wild and high; 

The weary Southland sees her last hope fade, 
And, vjith the dream of Lincoln, droop and die. 



484 VIRGINIA A. FRAZER. 

' Tis finished! ay! the daring mission's filled ! 

The grasp of Death rests on the iron hand 
That laid the Southern banner in its shroud, 

And flung the " Stars and Stripes" o'er all the land. 

/ 7 

Memphis, 1882. 



C. C. CARPENTER. 485 



I HAVE been more deeply interested in the life and 
character of Abraham Lincoln, and have admired 
him more unreservedly, than any other American, living or 
dead. I have read all the biographies of which I have 
any knowledge, and not one of them, or all of them, have 
given me the high estimate of his character which was 
indicated in the unreserved confidence and generous love 
with which he was regarded by all his contemporaries, and 
especially by those who came in personal contact with 
him and knew him best. 

Fort Dodge, 1882. 



486 Z. EASTMAN. 



ENGLISH SYMPATHY FOR MR. LINCOLN. 

THE hatred of aristocratic England of the American 
Union in the time of the rebehion almost made 
anti-slavery England pro-slavery. The anti-slavery 
society of Clarkson and Wilberforce were alarmed at the 
revulsion of principle, and issued an address to the 
people. They sent a copy of that address to President 
Lincoln, with the following letter : 

" To His Excellency Abraham Lincoln, President of 
THE United States of America. 

" Sir: — 1 1 has seemed desirable to the Committee of the 
British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, to issue, at 
the present crisis, an Address to the friends of the Anti- 
Slavery cause, of which a copy is annexed. 

'• In directing your attention to it, the Committee 
would take advantage of the opportunity, to assure you 
of their personal respect and sympathy, and of their ap« 
preciation of the exceeding great difficulties of your 
position. Since your accession to office, they have 
watched, with deep interest, the progress of events, and 
especially the gradual development of a policy tending 
to promote Negro Emancipation. If certain measures in 
furtherance of that policy, and some apparently incon- 
sistent with it, have not recommended themselves to the 
approval of the Committee, they have, nevertheless, 
recognized the majority of them with satisfaction, as con- 



Z. EASTMAN. 487 

duclve, in the main, to the interests of the enslaved portion 
of the African race. 

The Committee earnestly desire, that the sanguinary- 
conflict between the two sections of the Union may 
speedily cease, and that with the removal of the sole 
cause of tliis strife, a way may open for a reconciliation, 
upon the enduring basis of a community of interests, and 
a mutual forgiveness of injuries, 

" On behalf of the Committee, 
" (Signed) Thomas Binns, Chairman. 

" L. A. Cham ERG vzow. Secretary, 
27 New Broad Street, E.C. 
London, 17th November, 1862." 



Mr. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in Eng- 
land. 

When it had been learned that Mr. Lincoln had been 
elected for a second term for the presidency, a large 
public meeting was called in Bristol, England, to con- 
gratulate him on his re-election, and the meeting was 
broken up by a mob. Afterwards the following address 
was prepared and signed by a number of prominent 
persons, representing the friends of the American Union. 
A few weeks later another public meeting was held in 
the same hall, and presided over officially by the Mayor 
of the city, to express their abhorrence of the assassina 
tion of our President and condolence to the nation for 
the loss of so great and good a man. 



488 Z. EASTMAN. 

Address to his Excellency Abraham Lincoln on his 

Re-election to the Presidency of the 

United States. 

We, the officers and members of the Committee of 
the Bristol Emancipation Society, in the name of a 
large number of our fellow-citizens, who, in meeting 
assembled, on several occasions, and invariably by a large 
majority of votes, have adopted resolutions in agreement 
with the tenor of this address, desire most cordially to 
express to your Excellency our congratulations on )'our 
re-election to the presidency of the United States, by the 
popular vote of your freedom-loving countrymen. 

We rejoice in this result, regarding it as evincing the 
will and design of the American people to sustain you in 
the Anti-Slavery policy inaugurated under your adminis- 
tration by the Federal Government, a policy which, 
while rapidly making your country as free in fact as 
it has been heretofore by profession, will for the future 
identify your administration with the Liberation of the 
Enslaved. 

We believe that in issuing your Emancipation Pro- 
clamation, freeing all persons held as slaves by citizens 
who were in arms against the United States Government 
after 1863, and your corresponding recommendation to 
purchase for emancipation the slaves of loyal persons in 
States not in rebellion ; and your signing the law exclud- 
ing slavery from all the lands of the United States at 
present under a territorial form of government, together 
with the anti-slavery policy marking many of your acts, 



Z. EASTMAN. . 489 

you have conunended yoitr course to the approval of all 

TRUE THILANTIIROPISTS. 

Disclaiming any desire to mingle with the mere civil 
and political questions of the day, in which, among 
Americans, there exists a diversity of opinion, we feel 
that the policy of your administration, to which we have 
referred, affects tJic great interests of hzcmanity ; by it we 
are reminded afresh of the acts of our own Government 
in abolishing the slave trade, and slavery ; and in 
venturing to send to you our congratulations, we would 
express it as our conviction that such deeds, while In 
harmony with the highest laws of morality, tend, of their 
own nature, to draw nearer to each other the two great 
Protestant nations, leading to their alliance and co-opera- 
tion, and placing them in a position to influence, by their 
united example, the civilized world. 

In the long struggle which has passed, and In the con- 
flict which may yet be continued, we see the chastisement 
of a great and erring people, for the crime of slave-hold- 
ing, and for the glaring departure from high principles 
and professions ; and we believe that whenever the 
nation shall have purged away the crime of slavery, 
Peace and Prosperity will speedily be restored. 

The address was beautifully engraved and illuminated 
on a sheet of parchment four by five feet, and formally 
presented through me, as United States Consul, to the 
President, who received it but a short time before his 
assassination. 

Maywood, 1882. 



490 JAMES S. ROLLINS. 



MR. LINCOLN was a man, in my view, of unswerv- 
ing integrity in all his private and public rela- 
tions ; his convictions upon all subjects that he discussed 
w^ere honest and decided, and he followed them out ; he 
was a man of great benevolence of character ; there was 
no malice in his composition, but the widest charity for 
all ; he was devoted to the best interests of the State of 
his adoption, but at the same time he was a devoted 
patriot, loving his whole country, and an earnest defender 
of human liberty, and the perpetuation of the American 
Union, which, if broken up, might destroy the existence of 
free institutions upon the American continent; he had 
no prejudices against the Southern people ; he was one 
of the best friends they ever had. This is the place that 
will be awarded to him in history in after times. The 
war gave him deep distress ; there was nothing he would 
not have done, no sacrifice he would not have made con- 
sistent with his high sense of duty to his country and to 
humanity, if that would have stopped the war, and saved 
the Union from dissolution. In the deep sincerity of his 
heart, I have often heard him express these sentiments, 
and all his Messages to Congress and other similar 
papers, when carefully analyzed, will prove the correctness 
of this estimate of him. These are my impressions 
formed of Mr. Lincoln in a pleasant and frequent associa- 
tion with him during the 37th and 38th Congresses, in 
both of which I was a member, and which extended through 
the period of the civil war. 



JAMES S. ROLLINS. 491 

Mr. Lincoln often spoke to me about the Emancipa- 
tion Proclamation. He had no great faith in its efficacy. 
I heard him say a number of times it only affected those 
who were free, i. e., those behind the Federal lines, and of 
course it would not reach the vast number of slaves who 
remained within the lines of the Southern army. This 
made him exceedingly anxious in reference to the passage 
of the 13th amendment to the Constitution of the United 
States, abolishing African Slavery in our country. This 
amendment had failed to pass during the session of Con- 
gress of 1863-64, but it was again introduced into the 
Senate by its author, the Hon, John B. Henderson, of 
Missouri, and having passed that body, was sent to the 
House of Representatives to be acted upon there. The 
President had several times in my presence expressed his 
deep anxiety in favor of the passage of this great 
measure. He and others had repeatedly counted votes in 
order to ascertain as far as they could the strength of the 
measure upon a second trial in the House. He was 
doubtful about its passage, and some ten days or two 
weeks before it came up for consideration in the House, 
I received a note from him, written in pencil on a card, 
while sitting at my desk in the House, stating he wished 
to see me, and asking that I call on him at the White 
House. I responded that I would be there the next 
morning at nine o'clock. I was prompt in calling upon him, 
and found him alone in his office. He received me in the 
most cordial manner : and said in his usual familiar way : 
" Rollins, I have been wanting to talk to you for some 
time about the 13th amendment proposed to the Consti- 
tution of the United States, w^hich will have to be voted 



492 JAMLS S. ROLLINS. 

on now before a great while." I said : " Well, I am here, 
and ready to talk upon that subject." He said : "You and 
I were old Whio-s, both of us followers of that grreat states- 
man, Henry Clay, and I tell you I never had an opinion 
upon the subject of slavery in my life that I did not get 
from him. I am very anxious that the war should be 
brought to a close, at the earliest possible date, and I 
don't believe this can be accomplished as long as those 
fellows down South can rely upon the Border States to 
help them ; but if the members from the Border States 
would unite, at least enough of them to pass the 13th 
amendment to the Constitution, they would soon see 
they could not expect much help from that quarter, and 
be willing to give up their opposition, and quit their war 
upon the Government ; this is my chief hope and main 
reliance, to bring the war to a speedy close, and I have 
sent for you, as an old Whig friend, to come and see me, 
that I might make an appeal to you to vote for this 
amendment. It is going to be very close ; a few votes 
one way or the other will decide it." To this I re- 
sponded, " Mr. President, so far as I am concerned you 
need not have sent for me to ascertain my views on this 
subject, for although I represent perhaps the strongest 
slave district in Missouri, and have the misfortune to be 
one of the largest slave-owners in the county where I reside, 
I had already determined to vote for the 13th amend- 
ment." When he arose from his chair, and grasping me 
by the hand, gave it a hearty shake, and said, " I am most 
delighted to hear that." He asked me how many more of 
the Missouri Delegates in the House would vote for it." 
I said I could not tell ; the Republicans of course would, 



JAMES S. ROLLINS. 493 

General Loan, Mr. Blow, Mr. Boyd, and Col. McClurg. 
He said : " Won't General Price vote for it ? Heisagood 
Union man." I said I could not answer. " Well, what 
about Governor King ?" I told him I did not know. He 
then asked about Judges Hall and Norton. I said they 
would both vote against it, I thought. " Well," he said, 
" are you on good terms with Price and King ?" I respond- 
ed in the affirmative, and that I was on easy terms with the 
entire deleration. He then asked me if I would not talk 
with those who might be persuaded to vote for the amend- 
ment, and report to him as soon as I could find out what 
the prospect was. I answered I would do so with pleas- 
ure, and remarked, at the same time, that when a young 
man, in 1848, I was the Whig competitor of King, for 
Governor of Missouri, and as he beat me very badly, I 
think now he should pay me back by voting as I desire 
him to on this important question : I promised the Presi- 
dent I would talk to these gentlemen upon the subject. 
He said : "I would like you to talk to all the Borde^r State 
men whom you can approach properly, and tell them of 
my anxiety to have the measure pass ; and let me know 
the prospect of the Border State vote," which I prom- 
ised to do. He again said: " The passage of this amend- 
ment will clinch the whole subject ; it will bring the war, 
I have no doubt, rapidly to a close." I have never seen 
any one evince deeper Interest and anxiety upon any 
subject than did Mr. Lincoln upon the passage of this 
amendment. The next day I saw both General Price 
and Governor King, and had a long private interview 
with each of them. When I mentioned the matter to 
General Price, he became at once quite excited, and 



494 JAMES S. ROLLINS. 

expressed himself, in strong language, against the amend- 
ment ; and said: "Lincoln don't know that I am the 
owner of seventy negroes, does he ?" I said, " I don't 
know ; but suppose you owned a thousand negroes, 
what would they amount to, compared with the stop- 
ping of this infernal war, and saving the American 
Union?" I left General Price, and seeking Governor 
King, took him into one of the cloak-rooms of the 
House, and had a more quiet conversation with him 
upon the subject. I asked him if he had decided in 
his own mind how he should vote upon the 13th 
amendment. He said he had been thinking upon the 
subject a good deal, but said : ''Yoil know my people /e 
opposed to ity I responded: "Governor, at least two- 
thirds of the people in my district are opposed to the 
passage of this amendment ; but there are questions 
sometimes bigger than constituencies, and I intend to 
vote, and speak in favor of this amendment, and make 
our country free in fact, as well as in name, and get 
clear of this infamous rebellion." Before I left him he 
said he thought he would vote for it, which he did. 
I conversed with most of the Border State men who 
could be approached, upon the question ; told them of 
the President's deep anxiety in regard to it, and I have 
ever believed that the interviews had some influence 
in strengthening the final vote for the 13th amendment. 
It will be remembered that when the vote in 
the House was taken, the amendment was carried 
by a small majority; and, being approved, on 
the I St day of February, 1865, became substantially a 
part of the Constitution of the United States, being 



JAMES S. ROLLINS. 495 

subsequently ratified by all the States. Several days 
after the passage of this amendment through Congress, 
I called upon President Lincoln, and I never saw him 
evince greater joy at the news of any victory won 
upon the field of battle, than he did over the passage of 
this amendment. He said : " I read your speech, one 
night, after I had gone to bed, and it is the best 
speech delivered in Congress during this session." I 
suppose that the good President felt he owed me this 
much on account of my earnest co-operation with him 
in endeavoring to put through this important amend- 
ment. It is the most important, as it is to me the most 
satisfactory vote I ever cast in a legislative assembly. 

It was well understood, and especially in Missouri, that 
General Sterling Price, of Confederate military fame, 
immediately prior to and about the commencement of 
the rebellion, claimed to be a Union man, and, as such, 
was elected president of the convention which assembled 
in February and March, 1861, in JefTerson City and St. 
Louis, to take into consideration the then existing con- 
dition of thinofs in the State of Missouri. He had been 
a warm supporter of Colonel Benton during his contest 
with the nullifiers of the State. It was thought by many 
that he went very reluctantly into the rebellion, and as 
late as 1863 it was frequently said, and by persons pre- 
sumed to know, he was getting very tired of the Con- 
federate cause, and that he would be gratified if he could 
get out of it honorably. I had a conversation with a 
gentleman bearing a very near relation to him, and this 
subject was mentioned ; he was of the same impression 
with others, that General Price would like to abandon the 



49 6 JAMES S. ROLLINS. 

rebellion. As he was a very popular officer, command- 
ing a large body of men, and most of them from Mis- 
souri, I thought it might be well to sound him upon the 
subject, and to this end it was agreed that a reliable mes- 
senger be sent to him, that his real sentiments might be 
ascertained. A pass was obtained by me for him through 
the Federal lines. General Price at that time being in the 
State of Texas ; but upon the arrival of the messenger 
at the Confederate lines, some distance below Cairo, he 
was not allowed to go through into the Confederacy ; de- 
termined, however, not to give up so valuable an enter- 
prise, I wrote to a member of the Confederate Congress 
then in session at Richmond, Va., from Missouri, to obtain 
a pass through their lines for the person above referred 
to. It was not long before I received an answer to my 
letter, in which the orentleman stated he had submitted 
the proposition to President Davis, and he promptly re- 
fused to grant the request, and in this my correspondent 
said he entirely agreed with him. So the project failed, 
simply because General Price could not be reached, 
and his opinion on the subject could not be as- 
certained. At that time it would have been a grand 
thing if General Price could have been induced 
to abandon the Confederacy and return to his loyalty 
to the United States, as he wielded an immense influence, 
and could have reclaimed a large number of young men 
who had been persuaded against their better judgment 
to make war upon their country. About the time I con- 
ceived this thought, in August, 1863, I happened to be in 
the office of President Lincoln, when I ventured to men- 
tion the subject to him. He was very much amused at 



JAMES S. ROLLINS. 497 

my proposition, regarding it as not at all feasible, and at 
the same time perpetrating quite a number of jokes at 
my expense. I insisted, however, that it be tried, as no 
harm could come of it, and we would at least find how 
General Price's pulse beat upon the subject, and all I 
asked of him was that he give the messenger a pass 
through the Federal lines, to see General Price. " Well, 
he said, "we will see what General Hitchcock says about 
it," and ringing his bell, he sent for General Hitchcock, 
who then had charge of the transmission of messages 
between the Governments at Washington and Richmond. 
In a few moments General Hitchcock made his appear- 
ance, when the President said to him : " General, here is 
Rollins from Missouri, who has had an intimation that 
General Price, now in Texas, might be induced to give 
up his opposition, and quit his war upon the United 
States, and return to his home in Missouri." They both 
laughed very heartily at the idea, but finally issued the 
pass, and also sent some papers which I had prepared 
through the lines to Richmond. After receiving the 
papers Mr. Lincoln said to me, pleasantly: " Now, Rollins,, 
this is a very delicate business, and I don't want you tO' 
get me into any scrape about it ; this is your project, and 
not mine ; if Sterling Price will come back, all I have to 
say, I will do the fair thing by him ; and if you can get 
him to come back and disband his men, it will be equal tO' 
a half-dozen victories to the Union side ; but this thing 
must not go into the papers, or be spoken of outside of 
you, Hitchcock and myself." I then said to him : " Mr. 
President, I wish you would give me a memorandum 
showing your good disposition towards General Price," 

33 



498 JAMES S. ROLLINS. 

which he said he would do, and at once took up his pen 
and wrote a short note and handed it to me, the original 
of which, in Mr. Lincoln's handwriting, I have now in 
my possession, and is here copied, and this anecdote again 
illustrates his kindly feeling to those in arms against the 
Government of the United States. 

" Executive Mansion, 

"Washington, August, 1863." 
" Hon. Jas. S. Rollins : 

"Yours in reference to General Sterling Price is re- 
ceived. If he voluntarily returns and takes the oath of 
allegiance to the United States, before the next meeting 
of Congress, I will pardon him, if you shall then wish me 
to do so. 

"Abraham Lincoln." 

During the winter of 1864-65, as I now remember the 
time, a gentleman came to Washington, named Colonel 
Lane, who was one of my constituents, and resided in 
Montgomery Co., Missouri. I had known him in Missouri. 
He was a number of times at my rooms In Washington, 
and told me he had been operating with the United 
States detective force on the Mississippi river, he having 
an official connection therewith. I knew nothing to the 
prejudice of Colonel Lane. He had been recommended to 
the Government by such respectable and patriotic gentle- 
men as James O. Broadhead, Samuel S. Glover and Judge 
S. M. Breckenrldge, as I now recall. On an occasion, 
when at my room, in giving me an account of his war ex- 
periences In running up and down the Mississippi river 



JAMES S. ROLLINS. 499 

on steamboats, he told me at one time he had left the 
boat and gone out into the State of Mississippi, where he 
had remained some time; that whilst there he had heard 
a plan discussed by a number of young and warlike 
gentlemen ? as to how the President of the United States 
might be disposed of. He got in, so to speak, with these 
young fellows ; he was anxious to find out more about it, 
and was one of them for a number of days. The plan 
agreed upon was to obtain a box about six or seven inches 
square, containing an explosive material, and which on 
being opened would explode, and most probably destroy 
the person who held it in his hand. He told me he had 
seen this box, and held it in his own hands ; that the pur- 
pose and design was to send it to Washington directed to 
Mr. Lincoln, and place it in the Presidential Mansion, 
where he would most likely get and open it. To me this 
was a most extraordinary and infamous disclosure ; it 
arrested my serious thought and attention. I could 
hardly credit it, and yet could see no motive for such a fab- 
rication. I asked Colonel Lane if he was serious in what 
he said. He said he v;as, and had only related to me 
what he had witnessed with his own eyes. I said to him at 
once : " Colonel Lane, if the facts you relate to me are true 
you should not lose a moment in communicating the facts 
to the President. Will you go up with me, call upon the 
President, and make the same statement to him ?" Cer- 
tainly, he said, he would go up, as he wished to tell Pres- 
ident Lincoln precisely what he had told me. I then 
said to him: " Come to my room in the morning, in Twelfth 
street, when I will have a hack ready, when we will drive 
up to the White House." He was a little late putting in 



500 JAMES S. ROLLINS. 

an appearance next morning, but I waited for him, and 
as soon as he arrived we mounted into the hack, and 
drove off to the President's office. It so happened there 
were great numbers of visitors who had preceded us, and 
were occupying the reception-room. I sent in my card, 
but so many others were in advance of me, I failed to ob- 
tain an audience that morning. We remained until one 
o'clock, when the messenger announced that the Presi- 
dent would see no more visitors that day, and those 
present were dismissed. Colonel Lane and myself drove 
back to my room, intending to ask an audience at 
another time. This, I think, v/as on Saturday, and, as 
near as I can now remember, in the month of December 
or January in the year 1864-65. When I parted with 
Colonel Lane it was not his intention to leave Washing- 
ton for several days ; but he received a telegram that 
evening, as he informed me In a letrer, calling him to 
Wheeling, West Va., and which compelled him to leave 
in the evening train. I did not see him again during 
that session of Congress, which terminated on the 4th of 
March, 1865, the day of the second inauguration of Mr. 
Lincoln as President. A few days thereafter, having 
business at the White House, I called upon Mr. Lincoln 
again, when I happened to find him alone, and seemingly 
in a very cheerful humor. He received me very cordially, 
as was his habit, and after dispatching the business which 
called me to see him, I ventured to tell him precisely 
what I had learned from Lane, and as I have stated it 
above. I observed he listened to what I had to say very 
attentively, and when I had finished my story, I said in 
an apologetic tone: " Mr. President, nothing but a sense of 



JAMES S. ROLLINS. 50 x 

duty and the interest I feel in you and the country would 
have prompted me to have mentioned a matter of this 
kind to you. I have simply told you the tale as it was 
told to me." He thanked me kindly for what I had told 
him, and said he appreciated the good feeling and friend- 
ship which prompted it ; but, treating the whole matter 
jocularly, he said : " I don't pay much attention to such 
things. I have received quite a number of threatening 
letters since I have been President, and nobody has 
killed me yet, and the truth is, I give very little consider- 
ation to such things." I told him the little I knew of 
Lane, and said to him : " Now, I hardly see why a man 
should get up a story of this sort unless there was some 
foundation for it. I believe he has witnessed what he re- 
lates." Upon rising to take leave I said, pleasantly : 
"Mr. President, I feel relieved in having unburdened my- 
self in telling you what I have. I have acted from a 
sense of duty ; and now, let me add, if you should come 
into your office one of those mornings and find sitting 
upon your table a wooden box about six inches square, I 
beg of you not to open it ; let some one else attend to 
that ; but if you attempt to open it, and the nation lose 
its President, I want it understood I have cleared my 
skirts." He again thanked me and laughed very heartily, 
and said, " Now, I will tell you — I promise you if I find 
any boxes on my table directed to me, I won't open 
them." Pausing a moment just as I was taking my leave 
of him, the smile which had just lighted up his face de- 
parted, and a certain melancholy expression, which I had 
often seen him wear, took its place, and he said seriously, 
and in language he evidently felt, ''Rollins^ I dont see 



S02 JAMES S. ROLLINS. 

what oil God's earth any man would wish to kill me 
for, for there is not a human being living to whom I 
would not extend a favor, and make them happy if it 
zuas in my power to do so" It occurred to me, on leav- 
ing him, the conversation I had had with him had left 
quite an impression on his mind. This occurred, accord- 
ing to m)^ best recollection, in January, 1865. 

Before the close of the session of Congress, I was sev- 
eral times in the office of the President, to see him on 
business, and on one occasion, when I was about leaving 
the room, he said to me, in a jocular manner: "Well, 
Rollins, I have not received my box yet." I responded, 
" I am gratified to hear it," but again warned him not to 
open any box of the kind left upon his table, and I left 
the room. 

At the close of the Thirty-eighth Congress, I was 
present at the second inauguration of President Lincoln, 
and remained in Washington several days thereafter. 
My second term in Congress having ended with the ex- 
piration of the Thirty-eighth Congress, before leaving for 
Missouri I called at the White House, to pay my re- 
spects to the President and take my leave of him. I 
found him in his office in a very genial humor, and I had 
a pleasant conversation with him. He seemed to be 
hopeful that the war troubles would soon be over, which 
greatly rejoiced him. When I rose to bid him good-bye, 
he gave me a cordial shake of the hand, and said : " Rol- 
lins, the box has not come to hand yet." I responded : 
" That is well, Mr. President, I am glad to hear 
it. I hope it may never come ; but if it does, I charge 



JAMES S. ROLLINS. 503 

you not to open it." This is the last time I ever saw, 
and this was my last interview with, Abraham Lincoln. 

About six weeks afterwards, when I was in the city of 
Chillicothe, Livingston county, Missouri, away up on 
Grand River, on the 15th day of April, 1865, I was most 
deeply shocked and grieved to hear that President Lin- 
coln and several members of his Cabinet had been assas- 
sinated. 




Columbia, 1882. 



504 E. D. TOWN SEND. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. There was a majesty in 
his character which shone forth on all great occa- 
sions. Though oppressed with the weight of novel respon- 
sibilities, he rose above all obstacles, and proved himself 
equal to every emergency. As a ruler he was just and 
efficient, not prone to yield unduly to the judgment of 
others ; of a kind heart and genial nature, he was a stead- 
fast friend, a magnanimous enemy. The reverence in 
which he was held by the entire populace was strikingly 
exhibited in the demeanor of the hundreds of thousands 
who witnessed the progress of the martyred President's 
funeral cortege from the city of Washington to Spring- 
field, 111. — none were seen to smile, many wept. The 
world never before looked upon such a spectacle of a na- 
tion's profound grief. 

Washington, 1880. 



H, M. RECTOR. 505 



MY sentiments of the life and services of Abraham 
Lincoln are, that he was a big-headed, big- 
hearted man — a man of destiny, sent, like Washington, 
to perform a great moral and political mission. Born in 
a tent, reared in poverty, in the Slave State of Kentucky, 
from infancy he imbibed early and lasting prejudices 
against slave-holders and slavery. Hence, his efforts in 
after life were directed by a scrupulous regard for what 
he esteemed a public duty. His administration evinced 
wisdom, forbearance, persistence, and was a success. His 
mission is performed. His advent and destiny will em- 
blazon history so long as the science of government 
shall be read and propagated by men. A humane be- 
nevolence was amongst his most estimable traits. 



^^i^ C^A^^r- 



5o6 JOHN H. BARROWS. 



RELIGIOUS ASPECTS. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN S CAREER. 



ONE of the noteworthy features of Lincoln's 
wonderful life was the manifest deepening of his 
sense of God's Presence and Providence during those 
later years when he bore the imperiled nation on his 
heart. He who is accustomed to discern a divine Hand 
in history must look upon Mr. Lincoln as a man raised 
up for a great purpose by him who lifted Joseph out of 
the pit to be ruler over Egypt, and exalted David from 
the Bethlehem sheep-fold to be Israel's king. How far 
Mr. Lincoln himself discerned God in Revelation or in 
the orderings of human life, previous to his exaltation to 
the Presidency, may not be fully known. He had early in 
his youth read the Bible and Pilgrim's Progress, and 
although the atmosphere of his legal and political life in 
Illinois was not helpful to faith, still he was known to 
several Christian ministers as a man of serious thought- 
fulness, if of little knowledge, in the domain of Christian 
truth. 

But the great anti-slavery debates and the nation's 
terrific struggle for existence were the rain and the solar 
heat that awakened and called forth the diviner nature, 
the heavenward side of this gracious and humane spirit, 
The contest against American slavery was essentially 
religious — a defense of fundamental Christian truth, the 



JOHN H. BARROWS, 507 

sacredness and worth of that humanity for which Christ 
died. The heroes of West India emancipation, Zachary 
Macaulay, Thomas Clarkson and WiUiam Wilberforce, 
were disciples of Him who came to break every yoke 
and let the oppressed go free. Green, the great English 
historian, finds the primal moral impulse which led 
England to free the negro in the great revivals under 
Whitefield and the Wesleys. Wendell Phillips says of 
the early American abolitionists that they ''bound the 
Bible to their brows." This great orator of Boston has 
written severe things of the churches. He has scathed 
hypocrisy as no other man in our generation has done. 
But, having bowed my head in prayer with this old 
apostle of freedom, and having heard him seek the 
blessing of God through the merits of Christ, the great 
Emancipator, I have never had the least suspicion that 
the movement which destroyed American slavery was an 
infidel crusade ! Looking into the coffin which held the 
form of William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips ex- 
claimed : " Farewell for a little while, noblest of Christian 
men." In reviewing the anti-slavery contest, the younger 
generation should not forget, and are not likely to forget, 
that the most stirring lyrics ever sung to freedom came 
from the Christian lips of Whittier ; that for years the 
most potent voice denouncing slavery sounded from Ply- 
mouth pulpit, and that the volume which converted the 
heart of the North, " Uncle Tom's Cabin," was written 
by a Christian woman, and is itself perhaps the most 
religious work of fiction since Bunyan wrote his immortal 
allegory. Charles Sumner was continually hurling the 
Sermon on the Mount at our great national sin, and 



5o8 JOHN H. BARROWS. 

Abraham Lincoln derived his deeper anti-slavery con- 
victions, as he confessed, from a sermon by the lion- 
hearted Leonard Bacon, of New Haven. 

All the world knows that when the newly-elected 
President was about to assume the government of the 
nation, he asked the prayers of his neighbors in Spring- 
field. Lincoln's was a nature far from shallow. There 
was a moral sensitiveness about him, that made him weak, 
as an attorney, in defending a cause of uncertain right- 
eousness. He was wont to seek after laws underlying 
special facts. It has been said of him that '' he saw 
through his lawyer's brief the general principles of the 
Divine administration." His deeper nature developed 
and ripened as Providence brought him to bear the 
weight of majestic and solemn responsibilities. In the 
anxious uncertainties of the great war, he gradually rose 
to the heights where Jehovah became to him the sublimest 
of realities, the Ruler of nations. When he wrote his 
immortal Proclamation, he invoked upon it not only 
" the considerate judgment of mankind," but " the gracious 
favor of Almighty God " When darkness gathered over 
the brave armies fighting for the nation's life, this 
strong man, in the early morning, knelt and wrestled in 
prayer with him who holds in his hand the fate of 
empires. When the clouds lifted above the carnage of 
Gettysburg, he gave his heart to the Lord Jesus Christ. 
When he pronounced his matchless oration on the chief 
battle-field of the war, he gave expression to the resolve 
that " this nation, under God, should have a new birth 
of freedom." And when he wrote his last Inaugural 



JOHN H. BARROWS. 509 

Address, he gave to it the lofty rehgious tone of an old 
Hebrew Psalm. 

In 1873, I stood on the broad granite platform of that 
noble monument which has been built in Oak Ridgfe 
Cemetery above all that was mortal of Abraham 
Lincoln. A great , crowd stood reverently in the May 
sunshine, while the Jubilee Singers, men and women whom 
the good President had liberated, sang, with the hot tears 
rolling down their dusky cheeks, as they rolled down our 
paler faces, the great " Battle-Hymn of the Republic," 
with its tuneful suggestions of that other Christian 
martyr who died at Harper's Ferry, attacking the wrong 
which at last had been trampled out in blood to the music 
of the old man's name : 

" Mine eyes have seen the glory of tlie coming of the Lord, 
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath were 

stored, 
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword, 
His truth is marching on. 

" In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, 
With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me ; 
As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, 
While God is marching on." 

The whole scene was a chapter in the modern evidences 
of Christianity, witnessing to the world that the lightning 
which melted the shackles off from four millions of slaves 
is the same with that which gleamed among the clouds 
of Mount Sinai of old, and played above the summit of 
the Cross of Calvary. 

All the great epochs of American history have been 



510 JOHN H. BARROWS. 

profoundly religious. John Winthrop felt that " the civil 
state must be reared out of the churches." Mulford, in 
his great work on this nation, gathers together the words 
of Franklin before the Convention which formed the 
Constitution : " Except the Lord build the house, they 
labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this ;" and 
the words of Washington in his first inaugural : "No 
people can be bound to adore the hand which conducts 
the affairs of men, more than the people of the United 
States ;" and the words of Jefferson : '* I shall need, too, 
the favor of that Being in whose hands we all are, who 
led our fathers, as Israel of old, from their native land ;" 
and he says of the last inaugural of President Lincoln 
that " it was the unbroken expression of the spirit of these 
Scriptures, and its whole thought was gathered up in their 
words in the recognition of One who will establish 
righteousness on the earth." 




Chicago, 1882. 



E. M. BISHOP. 511 



I KNEW Mr. Lincoln personally, being Mayor of the 
city of Cincinnati in February, 1861. It was my 
privilege to extend to him the hospitalities of the city on 
his way to Washington to take his seat as President of 
the United States. I respect him as a man of great 
nobleness of heart, purity of mind and intentions. I 
consider him a patriot, whose every endeavor it was to 
promote the interests of his country. While I differed 
with him essentially in politics, I have ever considered 
Lincoln a true man, actuated only by noble purposes. 
He was a great man, a good man, and his name will ever 
be venerated and honored as one of the brightest among 
that gallery of illustrious names which make our country 
so famous. 



"^X^^^ 



Cincinnati, 1880. 



SI2' ROBERT P. PORTER, 



HISTORY has not left it for me or for any other 
man to magnify or detract from the glory of 
Abraham Lincoln. His record, inscribed in deeds and 
sealed with his blood, is known and read of all men. 

A man of strong native mental and moral powers, he 
rose, by his own exertions, superior to all the depriva- 
tions of poverty and pioneer hardships, from the obscurity 
of a backwoods cabin, to command the admiration of all 
lands for all time. 

At the most critical period of his country's history, 
when even its greatest statesmen stood perplexed and 
confounded in the midst of the political questions of the 
day, his penetrating logic picked every fallacy, cleft every 
knob of political casuistry, and discovered the only path 
to the preservation of the Union ; and through the 
fiercest, bloodiest civil war that a free people ever en- 
dured, with unswerving courage he led four millions of 
slaves to liberty, and re-established the Federal Govern- 
ment in its rightful supremacy. As true to humanity 
as he had always" been faithful to his country, his last 
words were a prayer and benediction for his enemies. 

Before such a character I stand, with all men, in 
loving reverence. 

Chicago, 1880. 



GEO. A. TOWNSEND. 5x3- 



WESTERN and Northern-bred men ought not to 
forget that Lincoln was of the South. In its 
more instinctive, less rrtethodical school of parentage his 
idiosyncrasies were grown. The natural man, gazing out 
on the better development of the Nortli, poetized and 
reasoned in admiration of it, yet with melancholy, for 
he was of the poorer and more shiftless race. Let us, 
therefore, learn from Lincoln that honest Southernhood 
taken into Northernhood produces the most memorable 
Americanhood ; and that, though the North prevailed, 
Lincoln, Johnson, General Thomas, and many such re- 
fined and endeared the victory, and made it national. 




. cM. 




83 



514 



RUFUS HATCH. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN, the ablest of them all ! 
He lived and died an honest man. 




New York, 1880. 



H. B. ANTHONY. 515 



AS the character of Abraham Lincoln steadily devel- 
oped with the developing demands and necessities 
of the position to which he was elevated, so his fame 
steadily grows with the increasing light which is thrown 
upon what he achieved in his great office ; the emer- 
gencies that he met, the difficulties that he overcame and 
the results that he accomplished. He will always stand 
out, one of the grand figures in our history, one of the 
heroes and martyrs in the history of freedom, of cultiva- 
tion of humanity. 




Providence, 1882. 



Si6 W, G. GREENE. 



I RECALL an incident of Mr. Lincoln's early life, 
which came under my own personal observation, 
and which illustrated his desire to be just and do right 
while yet a mere boy, and which showed his magnetic 
influence over rnen among whom he moved. It was in 
1832 ; we were doing service in the Black Hawk War, 
and while lying at Rock Island the boys got up a wrest- 
ling match and pitted Mr. Lincoln, who was our captain, 
against a famous athlete and wrestler by the name of 
Thompson, from Union county, Illinois. We Sangamon 
county boys believed Mr. Lincoln could throw any one, 
and the Union county boys knew no one could throw 
Thompson ; so we staked all our slick and well-worn 
quarters and empty bottles on the wrestle. The first 
fall was clearly in Thompson's favor ; the second fall 
was rather in Thompson's favor, but Lincoln's backers 
claimed that it was what, in those days, was called a 
*' dog-fall." Thompson's backers claimed the stakes, 
while we demurred, and it really looked, for some time, 
as thouofh there would be at least a hundred fights as 
the result. Mr. Lincoln, after getting up and brushing 
the dust and dirt off of his jean pants, said : " Boys, 
give up your bet; if he has not thrown me fairly, he 
could." Every bet was at once surrendered, and peace 
and order were restored in a minute. During the re- 
bellion in 1864 I had occasion to see Mr. Lincoln in his 
office at Washington, and, after having recalled many of 
our early recollections, he said : " Bill, what ever became 



IV. G. GREENE, 517 

of our old antagonist, Thompson, that big curly-headed 
fellow who threw me at Rock Island ?" I replied I did 
not know, and wondered why he askSd. He playfully 
remarked that if he knew where he was living he would 
give him a post-office, by way of showing him that he 
bore him no ill-will. 



Tallula, 1882. 




5i8 CALEB CARMAN. 



I 



I BECAME acquainted with Abraham Lincoln in the 
year 1831, when he came from Decatur, Illinois, 
with a Mr. Hanks, on the hull of a flat-boat, for a man 
by the name of Denton Offutt. The building of this 
boat was commenced at Decatur, but, for want of lumber, 
was brought by water to Sangamon town and finished, 
as there was a little saw-mill which furnished sufficient 
material to complete it. It was the design of Mr. Offutt 
to load it with fifteen hundred bushels of corn and take 
it to New Orleans. The corn was bought at ten cents 
per bushel, and the boat was partially filled at Sanga- 
mon town ; then brought to New Salem and finished. I 
was standing on the bank of the river when the boat was 
tied up, and I don't think I ever looked at as awkward a 
man as Mr. Lincoln was at that time. He was dressed 
in blue jean pants and coat, and a wool shirt and slouch 
hat. I viewed him from head to foot, and thought to 
myself, What a fool ! but I had not been in his company 
long until I found out that I was the bigger fool of the 
two. We became very warm friends and strongly at- 
tached to each other. After Mr. Lincoln sold the corn 
in New Orleans, at fifty cents per bushel, he walked back 
and took up his residence at New Salem. 

Mr. Lincoln was a candidate for the Legislature, but 
was defeated by Peter Cartwright ; but was successful in 
being elected in 1834. He was boarding with me when 
he was appointed post-master at New Salem by Andrew 
Jackson ; this was previous to his election. And while 



CALEB CARMAN. 519 

in the Legislature he appointed me his deputy, as the 
post-office was then in my house. I don't think I ever 
saw Lincoln idling any time away. He had but few 
books, but those few were always near him, and in going 
to and from his work, would read. He had a wonderful 
retentive memory, and was a great story-teller. He was 
liked by every person who knew him. While he boarded 
with me he made himself useful in every way that he 
could. If the water-bucket was empty he filled it; if 
wood was needed he chopped it ; and was always cheer- 
ful and In a good humor. He started out one morning 
with the axe on his shoulder, and I asked him what he 
was going to do. His answer was : " I am going to try 
a project." When he returned he had two hickory poles 
on his shoulders, and in a very short time two of my 
chairs had new bottoms. 

Petersburg, 1882. 



520 MJiS. NORMAN B. jUJDD. 



AN EVENING WITH MR. LINCOLN. 

THERE are some evenings, the events of which are 
so impressed upon our memories, that scarcely a 
word said, or an act done, can ever be forgotten ; at one 
time, perhaps, because of the beauty of our surround- 
ings ; at another, because the events were a surprise and 
worthy of remembrance. The evening to which I refer 
was noteworthy for botli of these reasons. 

It was, I think, in the year 1856. My husband, the 
late Norman B. Judd, was attorney for the Rock Island 
Railroad. The bridge over the Mississippi at Rock 
Island had been destroyed by a river steamer running 
into it and setting it on fire. The steamboat owners 
along the Mississippi had brought a suit against the rail- 
road company, and it was to be tried in the U. S. District 
Court at Chicago. Mr. Lincoln had come to Chicago as 
assistant counsel in the suit. Mr. Judd had invited Mr. 
Lincoln to spend the evening at our pleasant home on 
the shore of Lake Michigan. After tea, and until quite 
late, we sat on the broad piazza, looking out upon as 
lovely a scene as that which has made the Bay of Naples 
so celebrated. A number of vessels were availing them- 
selves of a fine breeze to leave the harbor, and the lake 
was studded with many a white sail. I remember that a 
flock of sea-gulls were flying along the beach, and dipping 
their beaks and white-lined wings in the foam that capped 
the short waves as they fell upon the shore. 



MRS. NORMAN B. JUDD. 521 

Whilst we sat there, the great white moon appeared 
on the rim of the Eastern horizon, and slowly crept 
above the water, throwing a perfect flood of silver light 
upon the dancing waves. The stars shone with the soft 
light of a midsummer night, and the breaking of the low- 
waves upon the shore, repeating the old rhythm of the 
song which they have sung for ages, added the charm of 
pleasant sound to the beauty of the night. 

Mr. Lincoln, whose home was far inland from the 
great lakes, seemed greatly impressed with the wondrous 
beauty of the scene, and carried by its impressiveness away 
from all thought of the jars and turmoil of earth. In 
that mild, pleasant voice, attuned to harmony with his 
surroundings, and which was his wont when his soul was 
stirred by aught that was lovely or beautiful, Mr. Lincoln 
began to speak of the mystery which for ages enshrouded 
and shut out those distant worlds above us from our own, 
of the poetry and beauty which was seen and felt by seers 
of old when they contemplated Orion and Arcturus as 
they wheeled, seemingly around the earth, in their nightly 
course ; of the discoveries since the invention of the 
telescope, which had thrown a flood of light and knowl- 
edge on what before was incomprehensible and mysteri- 
ous ; of the wonderful computations of scientists who had 
measured the miles of seemingly endless space which 
separated the planets in our solar system from our central 
sun, and our sun from other suns, which were now gemming 
the heavens above us with their resplendent beauty. 

He speculated on the possibilities of knowledge which 
an increased power of the lens would give in the years 
to come ; and then the wonderful discoveries of late 



522 MRS. NORMAN B. JUDD. 

centuries as proving that beings endowed with such capa- 
bilities as man must be immortal, and created for some 
high and noble end by him who had spoken those num- 
berless worlds into existence ; and made man a little 
lower than the angels that he might comprehend the 
glories and wonders of his creation. j 

When the niorht air became too chillinof to remain 
longer on the piazza, we went into the parlor, and, seated 
on the sofa, his long limbs stretching across the carpet, and 
his arms folded behind him, Mr. Lincoln went on to speak 
of other discoveries, and also of the inventions which had 
been made during the long cycles of time lying between 
the present and those early days when the sons of Adam 
began to make use of the material things about them, 
and invent instruments of various kinds in brass and orold 
and silver. He o-ave us a short but succinct account of 
all the inventions referred to in the Old Testament from 
the time when Adam walked in the Garden of Eden until 
the Bible record ended, 600 b. c. 

I said, " Mr. Lincoln, I did not know you were such a 
Bible student." He replied: "I must be honest, Mrs. 
Judd, and tell you just how I came to know so much 
about these early inventions." He then went on to say 
that, discussing with some friend the relative age of the 
discovery and use of the precious metals, he went to the 
Bible to satisfy himself, and became so interested in his 
researches that he made a memoranda of the different dis- 
coveries and Inventions ; that soon after he was Invited to 
lecture before some literary society, I think in Blooming- 
ton ; that the Interest he had felt In the study convinced 
him that the subject would Interest others, and he therefore 



MRS. NORMAN B. JUDD. 523 

prepared and delivered his lecture on the " Age of Differ- 
ent Inventions :" and " of course," he added, " I could not 
after that forget the order or time of such discoveries 
and inventions." 

After Mr. Lincoln left, Mr. Judd remarked : " I am 
constantly more and more surprised at Mr. Lincoln's at- 
tainments and the varied knowledge he has acquired dur- 
ing years of constant labor at the Bar, in every depart- 
ment of science and learning. A professor at Yale could 
not have been more Interesting or more enthusiastic." 

Another Incident In connection with the railroad suit 
above referred to may be of interest. 

Mr. Joseph Knox, one of the ablest lawyers in 
Illinois, was also engaged as counsel in the defense. Mr. 
Lincoln began his speech in the forenoon and spoke un- 
til the court adjourned at noon. Mr. Knox dined with 
us that day. He sat down at the dinner table in great 
excitement, saying : " Lincoln has lost the case for us. 
The admissions he made In regard to the currents in the 
Mississippi at Rock Island and Moline will convince the 
court that a bridge at that point will always be a serious 
and constant detriment to navigation on the river." 

Mr. Judd's reply was in substance that Mr. Lincoln's 
admissions In regard to the currents were facts that could 
not be denied, but that they only proved that the bridge 
should have been built at a different angle to the stream, 
and that a bridge so built could not injure the river as a 
navigable stream. This reply was noteworthy as fore- 
shadowing Mr. Lincoln's argument made In the afternoon. 
The case was decided in their favor, and although carried 
later to the Supreme Court at Washington, where it was 



524 MRS. NORMAN B. JUDD. 

argued against by the Hon. Caleb Gushing, one of the 
ablest lawyers in the United States, the lawyers on the 
side of the bridge company won their case, and forever de- 
cided the question that bridges could be built under 
proper restrictions on all navigable streams in the United 
States. 

Seneca Falls, 1882. 



JOHN AVERY. 525 



THE more the smoke of party strife clears away, as 
we recede from the times of Abraham Lincoln and 
the civil war, the grander does the form of the Martyr 
President stand forth as the representative of sagacious 
statesmanship and unsullied patriotism. It has not fallen 
to the lot of any American since Washington to be so 
loved and lamented by the whole nation, without distinc- 
tion of race, section, or party. He was suddenly 
snatched away in the midst of his usefulness, but he has 
left a name behind which is a precious legacy to future 
generations of his countrymen, teaching ambitious youth 
that immortality may be most surely won, not by employing 
the tricks of the politician, but by unselfish devotion to 
the welfare of their country. 

BowDoiN College, 1880. 



526 WM. If. HERNDON. 



THE ANALYSIS OF MR. LINCOLN'S CHAR- 
ACTER. 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN was born in Hardin county, 
Kentucky, February 12th, 1809. -^^ moved to 
Indiana in 1816; came to Illinois in March, 1830; to 
old Sangamon county, in 1831, settling in New Salem, 
and from this last place to this city in April, 1837 ; 
coming as a rude, uncultivated boy, without polish or 
education, and having no friends. He was about six feet 
four inches high; and when he left this city was fifty-one 
years old, having good health and no gray hairs, or but 
few, on his head. He was thin, wiry, sinewy, raw-boned ; 
thin through the breast to the back, and narrow across 
the shoulders ; standing, he leaned forward — was what 
may be called stoop-shouldered, inclining to the consump- 
tive by build. His usual weight was one hundred and 
sixty pounds. His organization — rather his structure 
and functions — worked slowly. His blood had to run a 
long distance from his heart to the extremities of 
his frame, and his nerve-force had to travel through 
dry ground a long distance before his muscles were 
obedient to his will. His structure was loose and 
leathery ; his body was shrunk and shriveled, having 
dark skin, dark hair — looking woe-struck. The whole 
man, body and mind, worked slowly, creakingly, as if it 
needed oiling. Physically, he was a very powerful man, 
lifting with ease four hundred or six hundred pounds. 



WM. H. HERNDON, 527 

His mind was like his body, and worked slowly but 
strongly. When he walked, he moved cautiously but 
firmly, his long arms and hands on them, hanging like 
giant's hands, swung down by his side. He walked with 
even tread, the inner sides of his feet being parallel. He 
put the whole foot flat down on the ground at once, not 
landing on the heel ; he likewise lifted his foot all at once, 
not rising from the toe, and hence he had no spring to his 
walk. He had economy of fall and lift of foot, though he 
had no spring or apparent ease of motion in his tread. 
He walked undulatory, up and down, catching and pocket- 
ing tire, weariness and pain, all up and down his person, 
preventing them from locating. The first opinion of a 
stranger, or a man who did not observe closely, was that 
his walk implied shrewdness, cunning — a tricky man ; but 
his was the walk of caution and firmness. In sittinor 
down on a common chair he was no taller than ordinary 
men. His legs and arms were abnormally, unnaturally long, 
and in undue proportion to the balance of his body. It 
was only when he stood up that he loomed above other men. 
Mr. Lincoln's head was long and tall from the base 
of the brain and from the eyebrows. His head ran back- 
wards, his forehead rising as it ran back at a low 
angle, like Clay's, and, unlike Webster's, almost per- 
pendicular. The size of his hat, measured at the hat- 
ter's block, was 71^, his head being, from ear to ear, 6y^ 
inches, and from the front to the back of the brain 8 
inches. Thus measured, it was not below the medium 
size. His forehead was narrow but high ; his hair was 
dark, almost black, and lay floating where his fingers or 
the winds left it, piled up at random. His cheek-bones 



528 WjW. H. hern don. 

were high, sharp, and prominent ; his eyebrows heavy 
and prominent ; his jaws were long, iipcurved and heavy ; 
his nose was large, long and blunt, a little awry towards 
the right eye ; his chin was long, sharp and upcurved ; 
his eyebrows cropped out like a huge rock on the brow 
of a hill ; his face was long, sallow and cadaverous, 
shrunk, shriveled, wrinkled and dry, having here and 
there a hair on the surface ; his cheeks were leathery ; 
his ears were largre, and ran out almost at rio;ht angles 
from his head, caused partly by heavy hats and partly by 
nature ; his lower lip was thick, hanging, and under- 
curved, while his chin reached for the lip upcurved ; his 
neck was neat and trim, his head being: well balanced on 
it ; there was the lone mole on the right cheek, and 
Adam's apple on his throat. 

Thus stood, walked, acted and looked Abraham 
Lincoln, He was not a pretty man by any means, nor 
was he an ugly one ; he was a homely man, careless of 
his looks, plain-looking and plain-acting. He had no 
pomp, display or dignity, so-called. He appeared simple 
in his carriage and bearing. He was a sad-looking man ; 
his melancholy dripped from him as he walked. His ap- 
parent gloom impressed his friends, and created a 
sympathy for him — one means of his great success. He 
was gloomy, abstracted, and joyous — rather, humorous — 
by turns. I do not think he knew what real joy was for 
many years. 

Mr. Lincoln sometimes walked our streets cheerily, 
— good-humoredly, perhaps joyously — and then it was, 
on meeting a friend, he cried : " How d'y ?" clasping one 
of his friend's hand in both of his, giving a good hearty 



WAf. H. HERN DON. 529 

soul-welcome. Of a winter's morninof. he migrht be seen 
stalking and stilting it towards the market-house, basket 
on arm, his old gray shawl wrapped around his neck, his 
little Willie or Tad running along at his heels, asking a 
thousand little quick questions, which his father heard 
not, not even then knowing that little Willie or Tad was 
there, so abstracted was he. When he thus met a friend, 
he said that something put him in mind of a story which 
he heard in Indiana or elsewhere, and tell it he would, 
and there was no alternative but to listen. 

Thus, I say, stood and walked and looked this 
singular man. He was odd, but when that gray eye 
and face and every feature were lit up by the inward soul 
in fires of emotion, tJicn it was that all these apparently 
ugly features sprang into organs of beauty, or sunk 
themselves into a sea of inspiration that sometimes 
flooded his face. Sometimes it appeared to me that 
Lincoln's soul was just fresh from the presence of its. 
Creator. 



I have asked the friends and foes of Mr. Lincoln 
alike, what they thought of his perceptions. One 
gentleman of undoubted ability, and free from all partial- 
ity or prejudice, said : " Mr. Lincoln's perceptions are 
slow, a little perverted, if not somewhat distorted and 
diseased." If the meaning of this is that Mr. Lincoln 
saws things from a peculiar angle of his being, and from 
this was susceptible to Nature's impulses, and that he so 
expressed himself, then I have no objection to what is 
said. Otherwise, I dissent, Mr. Lincoln's perceptions 
34 



530 JVAf. H. HERNDON. 

were slow, cold, precise, and exact. Everything came to 
him in its precise shape and color. To some men the 
world of matter and of man comes ornamented with 
beauty, life, and action, and hence more or less false and 
inexact. No lurking illusion or other error, false in 
itself, and clad for the moment in robes of splendor, 
ever passed undetected or unchallenged over the 
threshold of his mind — that point that divides vision 
from the realm and home of thougrht. Names to him 
were nothing, and titles naught — assumption always 
standing back abashed at his cold, intellectual glare. 
Neither his perceptions nor intellectual vision were per- 
v^erted, distorted, or diseased. He saw all things through 
a perfect mental lens. There was no diffraction or re- 
fraction there. He was not impulsive, fanciful or im- 
aginative, but cold, calm, precise and exact. He threw 
his whole mental light around the object, and in time, 
substance, and quality stood apart ; form and color took 
their appropriate places, and all was clear and exact 
in his mind. His fault, if any, was that he saw things 
less than they really were ; less beautiful and more 
frigid. In his mental view he crushed the unreal, the 
inexact, the hollow and the sham. He saw things in 
rigidity rather than in vital action. Here was his 
fault. He saw what no man could dispute; but he 
failed to see what might have been seen. To some 
minds the world is all life, a soul beneath the material ; 
but to Mr. Lincoln no life was individual or universal that 
did not manifest itself to him. His mind was hisstandard. 
His perceptions were cool, persistent, pitiless in pursuit of 
the truth. No error went undetected, and no falsehood 



WJV. H. HERN DON. 531 

unexposed, if he once was aroused in search of truth. 
If his perceptions were perverted, distorted, and dis- 
eased, would to Heaven that more minds were so. 
********* 
The true peculiarity of Mr. Lincoln has not been seen 
by his various biographers ; or, if seen, they have failed 
wofully to give it that prominence which it deserves. It 
is said that Newton saw an apple fall to the ground from 
a tree, and beheld the law of the universe in that fall ; 
Shakespeare saw human nature in the laugh of a man ; 
Professor Owen saw the animal in its claw ; and Spencer 
saw the evolution of the universe in the growth of a seed. 
Nature was supfSfestive to all these men. Mr. Lincoln no 
less saw philosophy in a story, and a schoolmaster in a 
joke. No man, no men, saw nature, fact, thing, or man 
from his stand-point. His was a new and original posi- 
tion, which was always suggesting, hinting something to 
him. Nature, insinuations, hints and suggestions were 
new, fresh, original and odd to him. The world, fact, 
?nan, principle, all had their powers of suggestion to his 
susceptible soul. They continually put him in mind of 
something. He was odd, fresh, new, original, and pecu- 
liar, for this reason, that he was a new, odd, and original 
creation and fact. He had keen susceptibilities to the 
hints and suggestions of nature, which always put him- in 
mind of something known or unknown. Hence his 
power and tenacity of what is called association of ideas 
must have been great. His memory was tenacious and 
strong. His susceptibility to all suggestions and hints 
enabled him at will to call up readily the associated and 
classified fact and idea. 



532 IVAf. H. HERN DON. 

As an evidence of this, especially peculiar to Mr, 
Lincoln, let me ask one question. Were Mr. Lincoln's 
expression and language odd and original, standing out 
peculiar from those of all other men ? What does this 
imply ? Oddity and originality of visioii as well as ex- 
pression; and what is expression in words and human 
lanofuaoe, but a tellinof of what we see, defining the idea 
arising from and created by vision and view in us ? 
Words and language are but the counterparts of the idea 
— the other half of the idea ; they are but the stinging, 
hot, heavy, leaden bullets that drop from the mold ; and 
what are they in a rifle with powder stuffed behind them 
and fire applied, but an embodied force pursuing their 
object ? So are words an embodied power feeling for 
comprehension in other minds. Mr. Lincoln was often 
perplexed to give expression to his ideas : first, because 
he was not master of the English language : and, 
secondly, because there were no words in it containing 
the coloring, shape, exactness, power, and gravity of his 
ideas. He was frequently at a loss for a word, and hence 
was compelled to resort to stories, maxims, and jokes to 
embody his idea, that it might be comprehended. So 
true was this peculiar mental vision of his, that though 
mankind has been gathering, arranging, and classifying 
facts for thousands of years, Lincoln's peculiar stand- 
point could give him no advantage of other men's labor. 
Hence he tore up to the deep foundations all arrange- 
ments of facts, and coined and arranged new plans to 
govern himself. He was compelled, from his peculiar 
mental organization, to do this. His labor was great, 
continuous, patient and all-enduring. 



JVM. H. HERNDON. 533 

The truth about this whole matter is that Mr. y^ 
Lincoln read less and thought more than any man in his 
sphere in America. No man can put his finger on any 
great book written in the last or present century that he 
read. When young he read the Bible, and when of age 
he read Shakespeare. This latter book was scarcely ever 
out of his mind. Mr. Lincoln is acknowledged to have 
been a great man, but the question is, what made him 
great ? I repeat, that he read less and thought more -^ 
than any man of his standing in America, if not in the 
world. He possessed originality and power of thought 
in an eminent degree. He was cautious, cool, concen- 
trated, with continuity of reflection ; was patient and 
enduring. These are some of the grounds of his wonder- 
ful success. 

Not only was nature, man, fact and principle sug- 
gestive to Mr. Lincoln, not only had he accurate and 
exact perceptions, but he was causative, i.e., his mind 
ran back behind all facts, things and principles to their 
origin, history and first cause, to that point where forces 
act at once as effect and cause. He would stop, and 
stand in the street and analyze a machine. He would 
whittle things to a point, and then count the numberless 
inclined planes, and their pitch, making the point. Mas- 
tering and defining this, he would then cut that point 
back, and get a broad transverse section of his pine 
stick, and peel and define that. Clocks, omnibuses and 
language, paddle-wheels and idioms, never escaped his 
observation and analysis. Before he could form any idea 
of anything, before he would express his opinion on any 
subject, he must know it in origin and history, in sub* 



534 ^■^- H. HERN DON. 

stance and quality, in magnitude and gravity. He must 
know his subject inside and outside, upside and down- 
side. He searched his own mind and nature thoroughly, 
as I have often heard him say. He must analyze a sen- 
sation, an idea, and words, and run them back to their 
origin, history, purpose and destiny. He was most em- 
phatically a remorseless analyzer of facts, things and 
principles. When all these processes had been well and 
thoroughly gone through, he could form an opinion and 
express it, but no sooner. He had no faith. " Say so's" 
he had no respect for, coming though they might from 
tradition, power or authority. 

All things, facts and principles had to run through 
his crucible and be tested by the fires of his analytic 
mind ; and hence, when he did speak, his utterances rang 
out gold-like, quick, keen and current upon the counters 
of the understanding. He reasoned logically, through 
analogy and comparison. All opponents dreaded him in 
his originality of idea, condensation, definition and force 
of expression, and woe be to the man who hugged to his 
bosom a secret error if Mr. Lincoln got on the chase of 
it. I say, woe to him ! Time could hide the error in 
no nook or corner of space in which he would not detect 
and expose it. 

* * * * * * 

Though Mr. Lincoln had accurate perceptions, 
though nature was extremely suggestive to him, though 
he was a profound thinker as well as an analyzer, still 
his judgments and opinions formed upon minor matters 
were often childish. I have sometimes asked prominent, 
talented and honest men in this and other States for 



IVM. H. HERNDON. 535 

their manly opinion of Mr. Lincoln's judgments. I did 
this to confirm or overthrow my own opinions on this 
point. Their answers were that his judgments were 
poor. But now, what do we understand by the word 
*' judgments" ? It is not reason, it is not will, nor 
is it understanding ; but it is the judging faculty — that 
capacity or power that forms opinions and decides on 
the fitness, beauty, harmony and appropriateness of 
things under all circumstances and surroundings, quickly, 
wisely, accurately. Had Mr. Lincoln this quality of 
mind? I think not. His mind was like his body, and 
worked slowly. 

* * -x- -K- * * 

One portion of mankind maintained that Mr. Lin- 
coln was weak-minded, and they look at him only from 
the stand-point of his judgments. Another class main- 
tain that he was a great, deep, profound man in his judg- 
ments. Do these two classes understand themselves ? 
Both views cannot be correct. Mr. Lincoln's mind was 
slow, angular, and ponderous, rather than quick and 
finely discriminating, and in thne his great powers of 
reason on cause and effect, on creation and relation, on 
substance and on truth, would form a proposition, an 
opinion, wisely and well — that no human being can deii^-. 
When his mind could not grasp premises from which to 
arofue he was weaker than a child, because he had none 
of the child's intuitions — the soul's quick, bright flash 
over scattered and unarranged facts. 

Mr. Lincoln was a peculiar man, having a peculiar 
mind ; he was gifted with a peculiarity, namely, a new 
look-out on nature. Everything had to be newly created 



536 IVM. H. HERNDON. 

for him — facts newly gathered, newly arranged, and newly 
classed. He had no faith, as already expressed. In 
order to believe he must see and feel, and thrust his 
hand into the place. He must taste, smell and handle 
before he had faith, i.e., belief. Such a mind as this must 
act slowly, must have its time. His forte and power lay 
in his love of digging out for himself and hunting up for 
his own mind its own food, to be assimilated unto itself ; 
and then in time he could and would form opinions and 
conclusions that no human power could overthrow. 
They were as irresistible as iron thunder, as powerful as 
logic embodied in mathematics. 

I have watched men closely in reference to their 
approaches to Mr. Lincoln. Those who approached him 
on his judgment side treated him tenderly — sometimes 
respectfully, but always as a weak-minded man. This 
class of men take the judgment as the standard of the 
mind. I have seen another class approach him on his 
reason side, and they always crouched low down and 
truckled, as much as to say, "great," "grand," "omnipo- 
tent." Both these classes were correct. One took judgment 
as the standard of the man, and the other took reason. 
Yet both classes were wrong in this — they sunk out of 
view one side of Mr. Lincoln. A third class knew hiam 
well, and always treated him vv^ith human respect : not 
that awe and reverence with which we regard the Supreme 
Being ; not that supercilious haughtiness which greatness 
shows to littleness. Each will please to examine itself, 
and then judge of what I say. I have approached Mr. 
Lincoln on all sides, and treated him according to the 
angle approached. 

w "St ^ ^ ^ ^ 



IVM. H. IIERNDON, 537 

An additional question naturally suggests itself here, 
and it is this : Had Mr. Lincoln great, good common 
sense ? Different persons, of equal capacity and honesty, 
hold different views on this question — one class answer- 
ing in the affirmative, and the other in the negative. 

These various opinions necessarily spring out of the 
question just discussed. If the true test is that a man 
shall quickly, wisely, and well judge the rapid rush and 
whirl of human transactions, as accurately as though 
indefinite time and proper conditions were at his disposal, 
then I am compelled to follow the logic of things, and say 
that Mr. Lincoln had no more than ordinary common 
sense. The world, men and their actions must be judged 
as they rush and pass along. They will not wait on us ; 
will not stay for our logic and analysis ; they must be 
seized as they run. We all our life act on the moment. 
Mr. Lincoln knew himself, and never trusted his dollar 
or his fame on his casual opinions ; he never acted hastily 



on great matters. 



w WW TP w 

Mr. Lincoln very well knew that the great leading 
law of human nature was motive. He reasoned all ideas 
of a disinterested action from my mind. I used to hold 
that an action could be pure, disinterested, and holy, free 
from all selfishness, but he divested me of that delusion. 
His idea was that all human actions were caused by 
motives, and that at the bottom of those motives was self. 
He defied me to act without a motive and unselfishly ; 
and when I did the act and told him of it, he analyzed 
and sifted it, and demonstrated beyond the possibility of 
controversy that it was altogether selfish. Though he 



538 JJ'Jf. H. HERXDOX. 

was a profound analyzer of the laws of human nature, still 
he had no idea of the peculiar motives of the particular 
individual. He could not well discriminate in human 
nature. He knew but little of the play of the features as 
seen in " the human face divine." He could not distin- 
guish between the paleness of anger and the crimson 
tint of modesty. He could not determine what each play 
of the features indicated. \ 

•?;- •K- "Sr "Sp -Jf 

The great predominating elements of ]\Ir. Lincoln's 
peculiar character, were : First, his great capacity and 
poller of rtaso?i : secondly, his excellent u)idcrsta?idmg : 
thirdly, an exalted idea of the sense of n'^/it and equity ; 
and. fourthly, his intense veneration of what was true and 
good. His reason ruled despotically all other faculties and 
qualities of his mind. His conscience and heart were 
ruled by it. His conscience was ruled by one faculty — 
reason. His heart was ruled by two faculties — reason 
and conscience. I know it is generally believed that Mr. 
Lincoln's heart, his love and kindness, his tenderness and 
benevolence, were his ruling qualities ; but this opinion is 
erroneous in every particular. First, as to his reason. 
He dwelt in the mind, not in the conscience, and not in 
the heart He lived and breathed and acted from his 
reason — the throne of logic and the home of principle, 
the realm of Deity in man. It is from this point that 
Mr. Lincoln must be viewed. His views were correct 
and original. He was cautious not to be deceived ; he 
was patient and enduring. He had concentration and 
great continuity of thought ; he had a profound analytic 
power ; his visions were clear, and he was emphatically 



IVM. II. IIERNDON. 539 

the master of statement. His pursuit of the truth was 
indefati;^^ib]e, terrible. He reasoned from his well-chosen 
]>rinciples with such clearness, force, and compactness, 
that the tallest iiitellecls in the land l^owed to him with 
respect. He was the strongest man 1 ever saw, looking 
at him from the stand-point of his reason — the throne of 
his logic. He came down from that height with an irre- 
sistible and crushing force. His printed speeches will 
jjrove this ; but his speeches before courts, especially ?je- 
fore the Supreme Courts of the State and Nation, would 
demonstrate il : unfortunately, none of them have been 
preserved. Here he demanded time to think and pre- 
pare. The office of reason is to determine the truth. 
Truth is the power of reason — the child of reason. He 
loved and idolized truth for its own sake. It v/as 
reason's food. 

Conscience, the second great quality and forte of 
Mr. Lincoln's character, is that faculty which loves the 
just : its office is justice ; right and equity are its correla- 
tives. It decides upon all acts of all people at all times. 
Mr. Lincoln had a deep, broad, living conscience. His 
great reason told him what was true, good and bad, right, 
wrong, just or unjust, and his conscience echoed back its 
decision ; and it was from this point that he acted and 
spoke and wove his character and fame among us. His 
conscience ruled his heart ; he was always just before he 
was gracious. This was his motto, his glory : and this is 
as it should be. It cannot be truthfully said of any 
mortal man that he was always just. Mr. Lincoln was 
not always just ; but hisgreat general life was. It follows 
that if Mr. Lincoln had great reason and great con- 



540 IVM. H. HERN DON. 

science, he was an honest man. His great and general 
life was honest, and he was justly and rightfully entitled 
to the appellation, "Honest Abe." Honesty was his 
great polar star. 

Mr. Lincoln had also a good understanding ; that 
is, the faculty that understands and comprehends the 
exact state of things, their near and remote relation. 
The understanding does not necessarily inquire for the 
reason of things. I must here repeat that Mr. Lincoln 
was an odd and original man ; he lived by himself and 
out of himself. He could not absorb. He was a very 
sensitive man, unobtrusive and gentlemanly, and often hid 
himself in the common mass of men, in order to prevent 
the discovery of his individuality. He had no insulting 
egotism, and n@ pompous pride ; no haughtiness, and no 
aristocracy. He was not indifferent, however, to appro- 
bation and public opinion. He was not an upstart, and 
had no insolence. He was a meek, quiet, unobtrusive 
gentleman. These qualities of his nature merged some- 
what his identities. Read Mr. Lincoln's speeches, 
letters, messages and proclamations, read his whole record 
in his actual life, and you cannot fail to perceive that he 
had good understanding. He understood and fully com- 
prehended himself, and what he did and why he did it, 
better than most livinof men. 



There are contradictory opinions in reference to 
Mr. Lincoln's heart and humajiity. One opinion is that 
he was cold and obdurate, and the other opinion is that 
he was warm and affectionate. I have shown you that 



JVM. H. HERNDON. 541 

Mr. Lincoln first lived and breathed upon the world from 
his head and conscience. I have attempted to show you 
that he lived and breathed upon the world through the 
tender side of his heart, subject at all times and places to 
the logic of his reason, and to his exalted sense of right 
and equity ; namely, his conscience. He always held his 
conscience subject to his head ; he held his heart 
always subject to his head and conscience. His heart 
was the lowest organ, the weakest of the three. Some 
men would reverse this order, and declare that his heart 
was his ruling organ : that always manifested itself with 
love, regardless of truth and justice, right and equity. 
The question still is, was Mr. Lincoln a cold, heartless 
man, or a warm, affectionate man ? Can a man be a 
warm-hearted man who is all head and conscience, or 
nearly so ? What, in the first place, do we mean by a 
warm-hearted man ? Is it one who goes out of himself 
and reaches for others spontaneously because of a deep 
love of humanity, apart from equity and truth, and does 
what it Joes for love's sake ? If so, Mr. Lincoln was a 
cold man. Or, do we mean that when a human being, 
man or child, approached him in behalf of a matter of 
right, and that the prayer of such an one was granted, 
that this is an evidence of his love ? The African was 
enslaved, his rights were violated, and a principle was 
violated in them. Rights imply obligations as well as 
duties. Mr. Lincoln was President ; he was in a position 
that made it his duty, through his sense of right, his love 
of principle, his constitutional obligations imposed upon 
him by oath of oftice, to strike the blow against slavery. 
But did he do it for love ? He himself has answered the 



542 WM. H. HERNDON. 

question : " I would not free the slaves if I could preserve 
the Union without it." I use this arofument against his 
too enthusiastic friends. If you mean that this is love 
for love's sake, then Mr. Lincoln was a warm-hearted man 
— not otherwise. To use a general expression, his 
general life was cold. He had, however, a strong latent 
capacity to love ; but the object must first come as prin- 
ciple, second as right, and third as lovely. He loved 
abstract humanity when it was oppressed. This was an 
abstract love, not concrete in the individual, as said by 
some. He rarely used the term love, yet was he tender 
and gentle. He gave the key-note to his own character, 
when he said, "with malice toward none, and with charity 
for all," he did what he did. He had no intense loves, 
and hence no hates and no malice. He had a broad 
charity for imperfect man, and let us imitate his great life 
in this. 

" But was not Mr. Lincoln a man of great humanity?" 
asks a friend at my elbow, a little angrily ; to which I 
reply, "Has not that question been answered already?" 
Let us suppose that it has not. We must understand 
each other. What do you mean by humanity ? Do you 
mean that he had much of human nature in him ? If so, 
I will grant that he was a man of humanity. Do you 
mean, if the above definition is unsatisfactory, that Mr. 
Lincoln was tender and kind ? Then I agree with you. 
But if you mean to say that he so loved a man that he 
would sacrifice truth and right for him, for love's sake, 
then he was not a man of humanity. Do you mean to 
say that he so loved man, for love's sake, that his heart 
led him out of himself, and compelled him to go in search 



IVM. H. HERNDON. 543 

of the objects of his love, for their sake? He never, to 
my knowledge, manifested this side of his character. Such 
is the law of human nature, that it cannot be all head, all 
conscience, and all heart at one and the same time in 
one and the same person. Our Maker made it so, and 
where God through reason blazed the path, walk therein 
boldly. Mr. Lincoln's glory and power lay in the just 
combination of head, conscience, and heart, and it is here 
that his fame must rest, or not at all. 

Not only were Mr. Lincoln's perceptions good ; not 
only was nature suggestive to him ; not only was he orig- 
inal and strong ; not only had he great reason, good 
understanding ; not only did he love the true and good — 
the eternal right; not only was he tender and kind — but 
in due proportion and in legitimate subordination, had he 
a glorious combination of them all. Through his percep- 
tions — the suggestiveness of nature, his originality and 
strength ; through his magnificent reason, his understand- 
ing, his conscience, his tenderness and kindness, his heart, 
rather than love — he approximated as nearly as most 
human beings in this imperfect state to an embodiment 
of the great moral principle, " Do unto others as ye would 
they should do unto you." 

* * 45- * * 

There are two opinions — radically different opinions 
— expressed about Mr. Lincoln's will, by men of equal 
and much capacity. One opinion is, that he had no will ; 
and the other is, that he was all will — omnipotently so. 
These two opinions are loudly and honestly affirmed. 
Mr. Lincoln's mind loved the true, the right and good, 
all the great truths and principles in the mind of man. 



544 J^^^^- tl- HERN DON. 

He loved the true, first; the right, second; and the' 
good, the least. His mind struggled for truths and his 
soul for substances. Neither in his head nor in his soul 
did he care for forms, methods, ways — the non-sy^ky- 
stantial facts or things. He could not, by his very 
structure and formation in mind and body, care anything 
about them. He did not intensely or much care for 
particular individual man — the dollar, property, rank, 
order, manners, or such like things. He had no avarice 
in his nature, or other like vice. He despised, somewhat, 
all technical rules in law and theology and other sciences 
— mere forms everywhere — because they were, as a 
general rule, founded on arbitrary thoughts and ideas, 
and not on reason, truth, right, and the good. These 
things were without substance, and he disregarded them 
because they cramped his original nature. What suited 
a little, narrow, critical mind did not suit Mr. Lincoln's 
any more than a child's clothes did his body. Generally, 
Mr. Lincoln could not take any interest in little local elec- 
tions — town meetings. He attended no gatherings that 
pertained to localor other such interests, saving general 
political ones. He did not care (because he could not, in 
his nature) who succeeded to the presidency of this or 
that Christian association or railroad convention ; who 
made the most money ; who was going to Philadelphia, 
when and for what, and what were the costs of such a 
trip. He could not care who, among friends, got this 
office or that — who got to be street inspector or alley 
commissioner. No principle of goodness, of truth, or 
right was here. How could he be moved by such things 
as these ? He could not understand why men struggled 



IVM. H. HERN DON. 545 

for such things. He made this remark to me one day, I 
think at Washington, " If ever this free people — if this 
Government itself is ever utterly demoralized, it will come 
from this human wriggle and struggle for office — a way 
to live without work ; from which nature I am not free 
myself." It puzzled him a good deal, at Washington, to 
know and to get at the root of this dread desire — this 
contagious disease of national robbery in the nation's 
death-strucrole. 

Because Mr. Lincoln could not feel any interest in 
such little things as I have spoken of, nor feel any par- 
ticular interest in the success of those who were thus 
struggling and wriggling, he was called indifferent — nay, 
ungrateful — to his friends. Especially is this the case 
with men who have aided Mr. Lincoln all their life. 
Mr. Lincoln always and everywhere wished his friends 
well ; he loved his friends and clung to them tenaciously,, 
like iron to iron welded ; yet he could not be actively and 
energetically aroused to the true sense of his friends'' 
particularly strong feelings of anxiety for office. From 
this fact Mr. Lincoln has been called ungrateful. He 
was not an ungrateful man by any means. He may have 
been a cool man — a passive man in his general life ; yet 
he was not ungrateful. Ingratitude is too positive a 
word — it does not convey the truth. Mr. Lincoln may 
not have measured his friendly duties by the applicant's, 
hot desire; I admit this. He was not a selfish man — 
if by selfishness is meant that Mr. Lincoln would do any 
act, even to promote himself to the presidency, if by 
that act any human being was wronged. If it is said 
that Abraham Lincoln preferred Abraham Lincoln to 
35 



546 IVM. H. HERNDON. 

any one else, in the pursuit of his ambitions, and that, 
because of this, he was a selfish man, then I can see no ob- 
jections to such an idea, for this is universal human nature. 

It must be remembered that Mr. Lincoln's mind 
acted logically, cautiously, and slowly. Now, having 
stated the above facts, the question of his will and its 
power is easily solved. Be it remembered that Mr. Lin- 
coln cared nothing for simple facts, manners, modes, 
ways, and such like things. Be it remembered that he 
did care for truth, right, for principle, for all that pertains 
to the good. In relation to simple facts, unrelated to 
substance, forms, rules, methods, ways, manners, he cared 
nothing; and if he could be aroused, he would do any- 
thing for anybody at any time, as well foe as friend. 
As a politician he would courteously grant all facts and 
forms — all non-essential things — to his opponent. He 
did so because he did not care for them ; they were 
rubbish, husks, trash. On the question of substance, he 
hung and clung with all his might. On questions of 
truth, justice, right, the good, on principle, his will was 
as firm as steel and as tenacious as iron. It was as firm, 
solid, real, vital, and tenacious as an idea on which the 
world hinges or hangs. Ask Mr. Lincoln to do a wrong 
thing, and he would scorn the request ; ask him to do an 
unjust thing, and he would cry : " Begone !" ask him to 
sacrifice his convictions of the truth, and his soul would 
indignantly exclaim : " The world perish first !" 

Such was Mr. Lincoln's will. On manners and such 
like things, he was pliable. On questions of right and 
substance, he was as firm as a rock. One of these classes 



I 



WAf. H. HERNDON. 547 

of men look at Mr. Lincoln from the stand-point of things 
non-essential, and the other looks at him from the stand- 
point of substance, rejecting forms. Hence the difference. 
Mr. Lincoln was a man of firm, unyielding will, when, in 
human transactions, it was necessary to be so, and not 
otherwise. At one moment Mr. Lincoln was as pliable and 
expansive as gentle air, and at the next moment he was as 
biting, firm, tenacious, and unyielding as gravity itself. 

Thus I have traced Mr. Lincoln through his percep- 
tions, his suggestiveness, his judgments, and his four 
great predominant qualities, namely — his powers of 
reason, his great understanding, his conscience, and his 
heart. I assert that Mr. Lincoln lived in the head. He 
loved the truth ; he loved the eternal right and the good 
— never yielding the fundamental conceptions of these to 
any man for any end. 

All the follies and wrong Mr. Lincoln ever fell into, 
or committed, sprang or came out of his weak points, 
namely, his want of quick, sagacious, intuitive judgment 
— his want of quick, sagacious, intuitive knowledge of the 
play and meaning of the features of men as written on 
the face — his tenderness and mercy, and, lastly, his 
utterly unsuspecting nature. He was deeply and seriously 
honest himself, and assumed that others were so organ- 
ized. He never suspected men. These, with other de- 
fects of his nature, caused all his follies and wrongs, if he 
ever had any of either. 

All the wise and good things Mr. Lincoln ever did, 
sprang or came out of his great reason, his conscience, 
his understanding, and his heart ; his love of truth, right, 



548 IVM. H. HERNDON. 

and the good. I am speaking now of his particular and 
individual faculties and qualities, not their combination, 
nor the result of wise or unwise combinations. Each 
man and woman must form his or her own estimate of the 
man in the mind. Run out these facts, qualities, and 
faculties, and see what they must produce. For instance, 
a tender heart ; a wise, strong reason ; a good understand- 
ing, an exalted conscience, a love of the good, must, in 
such combination, practically applied, produce a man of 
great humanity. 

Take another illustration in the combination of his 
faculties and qualities. Mr. Lincoln's eloquence lay, ist, 
in the strength of his logical faculty, his supreme power of 
reasoning, his great understanding, and his love of 
principle; 2d, in his clear, exact, and very accurate vision ; 
3d, in his cool and masterly statement of his principles, 
around which the issues gather ; in the statement of those 
issues, and the grouping of the facts that are to carry con- 
viction, aided by his logic, to the minds of men of every 
grade of intelligence. He was so clear that he could not 
be misunderstood nor misrepresented. He stood square 
and bolt upright to his convictions, and formed by them 
his thoughts and utterances. Mr. Lincoln'smind was not 
a wide, deep, broad, generalizing, and comprehensive mind, 
nor versatile, quick, bounding here and there, as emer- 
gencies demanded it. His mind was deep, enduring, and 
strong, running in deep iron grooves, with flanges on its 
wheels. His mind was not keen, sharp, and subtile ; it 
was deep, exact, and strong. 

Whatever of life, vigor, force, and power of eloquence 



WM. H. HERNDON. 549 

the whole of the above qualities, or a wise combination, 
will give ; whatever there is in a fair, manly, honest and 
impartial administration of justice, under law, to all men 
at all times — through these qualities and capabilities 
given, never deviating ; whatever there is in a strong will 
in the right, governed by tenderness and mercy ; what- 
ever there is in toil and a sublime patience ; whatever 
there is in particular faculties, or a wise combination of 
them — not forgetting his weak points — working wisely, 
sagaciously, and honestly, openly and fairly ; I say, 
whatever there is in these, or a combination of them, 
that Mr. Lincoln is justly entitled to in all the walks of 
life. These limit, bound and define him as statesman, 
orator, as an Executive of the nation, as a man of human- 
ity, a good man, and a gentleman. These limit, bound 
and define him every way, in all the ways and walks of 
life. He is under his law and his nature, and he never 
can get out of it. 

This man, this long, bony, wiry, sad man, floated into 
our county in 1831, in a frail canoe, down the north fork 
of the Sangamon River, friendless, penniless, powerless 
and alone — begging for work in this city — ragged, 
strueelinsf for the common necessaries of life. This 
man, this peculiar man, left us in 1861, the President of 
the United States, backed by friends and power, by 
fame, and all human force ; and it is well to inquire 
how. 

To sum up, let us say, here is a sensitive, diffident, 
unobtrusive, natural-made gentleman. His mind was 
strong and deep, sincere and honest, patient and endur- 



55' 



WM. H. HERNDON. 



ing ; having no vices, and having only negative defects, 
with many positive virtues. His is a strong, honest, 
sagacious, manly, noble life. He stands in the foremost 
rank of men in all ages — their equal — one of the best 
types of this Christian civilization. 




Springfield, 1882. 



C. T. CORLISS. 551 



DEDICATED TO THE PILGRIMS 

VISITING Lincoln's Tomb on the nineteenth anniver- 
sary OF THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION, 

Springfield, Illinois, September 22, 
1881. 

WE have come, fellow-men, of a dark-hued race, 
On a pilgrimage to the last resting-place 
Of him, who, in life, was a friend to the slave. 
But whose mortal remains fill a martyr's grave. 

We have come from the East, the North, South and West, 
A disenthralled people, no longer oppressed, 
But free as the air — as a bird on the wing — 
To this hallowed shrine our oblations we bring. 

Four millions of Freedmen to-day swell the song; 
The blue vault of Heaven its echoes prolong. 
From the gulf to the lakes, from the lakes to the sea, 
The shackles have fallen — the Brother is free. 

The crack of the slave-whip no longer is heard, 
And hearts no more sicken, while hope is deferred ; 
The slave-pen and auction block never shall be 
Erected again in this land of the Free. 

Lincoln, the God-like, the friend of our race. 
With a stroke of his pen did forever efface 
That foul blot, so long our derision and shame. 
And carved for himself an immortal name — 

A name that shall live throughout all coming time, 
Unbounded by country, by language, or clime. 
Great-grandchildren's children, as years roll around, 
Shall pilgrimage make to this hallowed ground; 



552 C. T. CORLISS. 

And he whom we honored, what the' he be dead, 

What tho' the spirit forever has fled, 

Our fond recollection time cannot efiface 

Of Lincoln, the saviour and friend of our race. 

He blushed when he thought of the deep-burning shame 

That slavery brought on Columbia's fair name, 

And the proudest day of his life was when 

He struck off the chains from four millions of men. 

From the depths of our hearts, for this priceless boon. 
Let songs of thanksgiving our voices attune ; 
Let gratitude from these dark temples arise 
Like incense from altars, whose flame never dies. 

If ever beatified spirits descend 

And with those of mortals in harmony blend, 

The spirit of Lincoln is with us to-day, 

To charm all our fears and our sorrows away. 

So long as the Freedman inhabits this zone. 
Philanthropist, Statesman, and Sage, all in one 
We'll hail him, the greatest, the wisest and best. 
Who sleeps in yon " windowless palace of Rest." 



^C/^^c^, y,^ ^n^^U^ 



Indianapolis, i88i. 



DAVID DAVIS. 553 



BORN in the humblest walks of life, and unaided by 
education or by fortune, Abraham Lincoln, by his 
own endeavors and native resources, attained to the 
highest honor of the republic. He administered that 
great office so as to win the confidence and affection of 
the American people. His name wdll go down through 
all time imperishably associated with the freedom of a 
race, and as one of the noblest champions of liberty, 
humanity and charity for all, in war and in peace. 



^^^^^sWi:^ 



Washington, 1880. 



554 HOWARD CROSBY. 



I LOOK upon Abraham Lincoln as a special instru- 
ment of God (as was Washington) to meet a fear- 
ful crisis in our country's history. He was a thorough 
American, carrying a calm mind and tender heart, with a 
firm sense of right, through the stormy period of civil 
strife. 

New York, 1880. 



JVM. F. SMITH. 5=; 5 



MR. LINCOLN'S place in the hearts of the nation 
and on the pages of history is so well fixed, that 
it seems like presumption in one like myself to write of 
his merits. I do it, however, because of my great ad- 
miration for his character and services. At the begin- 
ning of his administration I was very much prejudiced 
against him, but I was intensely interested in the success- 
ful termination of the war, and that interest was far above 
all prejudices or friendship ; and so at last I came to 
recognize in President Lincoln a man of extreme con- 
scientiousness and patriotism ; to which was added an 
ability for the grave duties devolved upon him far beyond 
that of the most able men known for years in the councils 
of the nation. I have long held to the opinion that at 
the close of the war Mr. Lincoln was the superior of his 
generals in his comprehension of the effect of strategic 
movements and the proper method of following up vic- 
tories to their legitimate conclusions. Had he lived, I 
have always believed that the long and bitter struggle 
over reconstruction would never have been initiated, and 
that substantial peace and prosperity would have followed 
the laying down of arms. It would seem as though the 
two sections of the country had not been sufficiently 
punished by the war, and that he was removed from his 
high place and that we lost the power which his character 
had won with the people, so that a new set of plagues 
might be turned loose over the land. 



New York, 1882. 



556 GEORGE WASHINGTON NANCE. 



I BECAME acquainted with Mr. Lincoln in the year 
1833. I moved from Kentucky to Illinois about that 
time, and Mr. Lincoln was then engaged in the grocery 
business in New Salem, Illinois. I had previously re- 
ceived the impression that the inhabitants of New Salem 
were perfect " ogres and hobgoblins," and that no one 
ever attempted to pass through the town without being 
either killed or robbed. I had some business with a 
friend living near there, and on calling at his house, I 
learned that he had gone to Salem. I scarcely knew 
whether it would be safe to venture there alone or not. 
I at length made up my mind to try it, anyhow. I 
reached the town without meeting with an accident ; but 
as I neared the center my ear caught the sound of a loud 
voice. I began to tremble in my boots, for I felt sure the 
devouring angel was close at hand. I kept up my cour- 
age as well as I could, and proceeded in the direction 
of the voice, and a few steps brought me to the house 
from whence the voice issued. There sat the dreaded 
monster with a note-book open before him, practicing 
music. He at once recognized me, having been ac- 
quainted with two of my brothers, to whom I bore a 
close resemblance ; he then introduced himself as Abra- 
ham Lincoln. We spent a very pleasant evening to- 
gether, and some time after this meeting, I had an op- 
portunity to become better acquainted with him. The 
family with whom he was then boarding went away on a 
visit, and he engaged board with a gentleman for whom I 



GEORGE WASHINGTON NANCE. 557 

was making a frame for a house, and we soon became in- 
timate friends and room-mates. After he became a law- 
yer I engaged his services in a law-suit, and on asking 
his charge, to my surprise he only asked me two dollars 
and fifty cents. I had no idea of paying less than ten 
dollars. When Mr. Lincoln first became a lawyer he 
was a general favorite with all the wild young menSvho 
knew him, and in one of his speeches, delivered after he 
was elected to the Illinois Legislature, he displeased 
some of these young bloods, and it reached his ears. He 
called a meeting and addressed them, saying that they 
had made him what he was, and if he had said anything 
that displeased them he was willing for them to take him 
to pieces limb by limb. 

Petersburg, 1882. 



558 JOHN BENNETT. 



I CAME to Illinois in the fall of 1835, and in January, 
1836, located in Petersburg, a little village recently- 
laid out on the Sangamon river, two miles north of Salem, 
Mr. Lincoln's home. My earliest acquaintance with Mr. 
Lincoln commenced in February of that year, on his 
return home from Vandalla, where he had spent the 
winter as a member of the legfislature from Sangamon 
county. Mr. Lincoln spent the most of the month of 
March in Petersburg, finishing up the survey and planning 
of the town he had commenced the year before, and I was 
a great deal in his company and formed a high estimate 
of his worth and social qualities, which was strengthened 
by many years of subsequent social intercourse and busi- 
ness transactions, finding him always strictly honest ; in 
fact, he was universally spoken of in this region as 
" Honest Abe." After Menard county was formed out of 
a portion of Sangamon county, and the county seat 
established at Petersburg, Mr. Lincoln was a regular 
attendant at the courts, and as I was then keeping a 
hotel, he was one of my regular customers, where he met 
many of his old cronies of his early days at Salem, and 
they uniformly spent the most of the nights in telling 
stories, or spinning long yarns, of which Mr. Lincoln was 
very fond. In the early settlement of this community, 
when a stranger came to settle amongst them, it was their 
custom to try him on. This trying on was to ascertain 
what he was made of, and all sorts of sports were resorted 
to, such as running, jumping, wrestling and occasionally 
a knock-down, if necessary. In all these sports, Mr. 
Lincoln not only proved himself a match, but an over 



JOHN BENNETT. 559 

match for the most of them, and they at on.:e became his 
fast friends. On one occasion, Mr. Lincoln, with a 
number of other persons, was descending- the Sangamon 
river in a flat-boat. The boat leaked badly and took in a 
good deal of water, and when they reached the Salem 
mill-dam, the water was not hio-h enous^h to take the boat 
ov^er with so much weight, and the bow ran up high and 
dry on the dam. The question was. What was to be done ? 
Mr. Lincoln suggested that they should bore a hole in 
the bottom of the boat and lighten it by letting the water 
out. This was a novel idea, but the hole was bored in 
the bow, and all hands went to that end, which raised the 
stern ; the v/ater flowed to the bow and passed off through 
the hole, and the boat went over the dam in safety. 

On another occasion, when Mr. Lincoln and some of 
his friends were visiting a neighbor, a very large, fleshy, 
roueh and uncouth old woman came in and seated her- 
self on one of those old-fashioned, straight-backed, split- 
bottomed chairs, leaned back, balancing herself on the 
hind legs and rocking to and fro, and telling of every- 
thing going on in the neighborhood (for she knew every- 
body's business), Mr. Lincoln was sitting near, and being 
always fond of a joke, he couldn't withstand the tempta- 
tion, and slyly put his foot under the front round of the 
chair and upset her. She fell in such a position that she 
could not extricate herself without his assistance ; what 
followed can better be imagined than described. 




Petersburg, 1882. 



56o E. C. POMEROY. 



THAT Mr. Lincoln was an eminently good man — 
that he was really great in all the moral aspects of 
human character, is very widely if not universally conced- 
ed. That he was equally great from the purely intellec- 
tual point of view, has been spoken of with more reserve. 
It was not unnatural, therefore, that his extraordinary suc- 
cess in political life, obtained as it was without resort to 
the crafty methods of the mere politician, and without 
the usual personal solicitation by himself in his own be- 
half, should have been regarded by many as something 
of a mystery — especially when considered in connection 
with the fact that he was not supposed to be an educated 
man. His success was largely due, no doubt, to his re- 
markable sagacity in determining the condition of the 
public mind, and in reading the signs of the times. He 
seemed to have a special gift in this direction. Perhaps 
it was intuition, but so largely developed in his case as 
to be almost equivalent to a separate mental endowment, 
giving him, as it were, one faculty more than other men 
have, and bestowing upon him a corresponding advan- 
tage over his contemporaries. But that he was intellec- 
tually great, aside from this, is one of the most conspicu- 
ous facts of his life. And it is clearly evident from the 
circumstances in which he was placed, during the most 
important period of his political career — being a lecider 
alike of a new party and a new thought — that he could 
not have succeeded nor laid a foundation for success, if 
this had not been a fact in his favor. Whatever he may 



E. C. POMEROY. 561 

have lacked in the way of education or scholarship, he 
certainly did not lack knowledge, or the ability to acquire 
knowledge to any extent needed at any time when want- 
ed, nor the intelligence and skill necessary to use it to the 
best possible advantage. There are thousands of educa- 
ted men who would rejoice to have this same power, but 
have it not. Such talent as this, in the field of duty to 
which he was called, was an ample substitute for the 
scholarship he did not' have, and out of this talent came 
the giant forces which wrought his success. With these 
at his command, no difficulties embarrassed him, no emer- 
gencies found him unprepared, he made no mistakes, and 
met with no failures. 

In the stirring Illinois campaign which brought him to 
the front as champion of freedom, and which resulted 
two years later in making him the nominee of his party 
for the Presidential office, he manifested capabilities equal 
to the highest and the best. The country was filled with 
able men at that time, men noted for great learning, elo- 
quence, skill in debate, and wisdom of management, but 
it is not likely that any one could have been selected from 
among them all, who would have gone through that cam- 
paign, in his place, with a success and brilliancy equal to 
his. And yet the performance did not seem to be in any 
way difficult or extraordinary for him. It was only in 
keeping — except as to its greater importance, and the 
ereater excitement attendinor it — with all his former ef- 
forts in the political field. Without pretending to be an 
orator, he swayed the multitudes by his eloquence as the 
tempest stirs the sea ; and vanquished his opponents in 
debate with the same easy grace and irresistible force of 

36 



562 E. C. POMEROY. 

logic with which lesser fields had been won, and which 
lesser foes had been taught to respect in the less trying 
situations of the past, and which all parties, friends and 
foes alike, were destined to admire. He wrought with- 
out malice ; without personal animosity towards anybody ; 
simply for his love of the right, and his hatred of the 
wrong, as matters of principle ; and won the respect of 
all by the fairness and candor and good temper with 
which his work was done. With pleasant smiles, and 
keen wit, and unanswerable argument, he cleared the path 
before him, for himself and his party, and pointed the 
way to a higher and better life for the nation ; and then, 
stepping quickly to the front, led the nation on to 
take possession of and permanently occupy that higher 
ground. And this was essentially his own work from be- 
ginning to end. He started it, and kept with it all the 
way through, as the most capable and efficient worker of 
all, and finally finished it at the end. A nobler exhibition 
of mental supremacy and magnificent success, in the politi- 
cal field, has not been seen on this earth. This is a strong 
statement, but it is no doubt a perfectly truthful one. 
If there are men now living who would withhold from him 
this large credit for intellectual greatness, let them explain 
how, from the condition of helpless poverty in which he was 
born, and in which he continued through all the years of 
childhood and youth, he could come to be the master-spirit 
of the nation, and to hold its highest position of official 
trust and power with such transcendent ability and faultless 
wisdom, through the most trying ordeal any nation or any 
ruler of a nation has ever experienced ; and do all this 
without aid from any outside source except such as he 



E. C. POMEROY. 563 

created for himself and drew unto himself by his own ef- 
forts alone, as he advanced. His known integrity and 
goodness of heart were, of course, strong elements of pop- 
ularity, but such success as this cannot be rationally ac- 
counted for without includino: amono^ its causes that most 
indispensable one of all — great intellectual ability. If we 
call it wisdom, it means the same thing. 

Mr. Lincoln was a profound admirer of our great men 
of the past. He studied their lives and made himself 
minutely acquainted with their characters,- and became 
one of the noblest defenders of their work. Particularly 
is this true with regard to the men of the Revolution. 
He had imbibed their very spirit. The Declaration of 
Independence was the light which lighted him on his po- 
litical way. He believed in it as sincerely and devoutly 
as he believed in his Bible. Its principles to him were as 
sacred as any earthly thing could be. He regarded them 
as of divine origin. And now, when he found that noble 
instrument assailed by gifted northern orators, and 
sneered at and ridiculed as containing nothing but "glit- 
tering generalities," and determined efforts being made to 
destroy its influence over the public mind, In order to 
make more room for slavery, he was naturally roused 
with indignation and inspired with eloquence in its de- 
fense. He came to its defense with a magnanimity and 
power no other man has shown. It would not be diffi- 
cult to prove. If there were time and space, that he really 
possessed many of the leading characteristics of our great 
men of the past, more, perhaps, than has been manifested 
by any other single American. At the same time, he was 
wholly unlike them all in his intellectual methods — as 



564 E. C. POMEROY. 

well as in his personal appearance — and was not equal to 
any one of them, probably, in those educational advanta- 
ges that come from the schools. But his great soul, man- 
ifesting itself by great deeds, has won for him a reputa- 
tion and fame superior to all other Americans, with the 
single exception, perhaps, of Washington — and he stands 
before the world an illustrious example of human great- 
ness, creditable alike to the men who created the govern- 
ment and to the government which they created. They 
made it possible for such a man to be produced ; and he 
is without any exception the grandest fruit of their deep 
political foresight. He was wholly American, and 
wholly a United States American, of the purest and best 
type : a broad-minded, big-hearted, genial-tempered prod- 
uct of the prairies : with a love of country and of free- 
dom and of man a thousand times more boundless than 
the prairies, — as boundless as humanity. With such en- 
dowments of mind and such attributes of character, it is 
not to be wondered at that he could move men as they 
had never been moved before ; nor is it a matter of won- 
der to those who believe in an overruling Providence that 
fits the man for the hour and the hour for the man, in the 
great concerns of earth, that at his chief advent into pub- 
lic life, the time had come for them to be so moved. 

A country that has produced two such men as Wash- 
ington and Lincoln during the first century of its exist- 
ence — besides the large number of other great men neces- 
sarily implied in the production of these two — can afford to 
be well satisfied with its laurels. Washington, the Father 
of Liberty and the Founder of the Republic ; Lincoln, 
the Father of Freedom and the Preserver of the Re- 



E. C. FOMEROY. 565 

public : — these might not improperly be distinguishing 
titles of these distinguished men. No brighter names 
than theirs shine out from the pages of history, in ancient 
or modern times. The united voice of the country, and 
of all countries, has given to Washington his proper 
place, where he will stand, bathed in glory, forever. Lin- 
coln's time has not yet come. It is too early for him to 
take his right place in the undivided opinion of the world. 
Another generation must pass — perhaps many genera- 
tions — before he can be seen by all alike and in his true 
light. When the asperities of the war are all gone, and 
the memory of its bitterness has faded from the minds of 
men, and the prejudices excited by its passions are at an 
end — when the animosities engendered by party strife are 
forgotten, and when the losses caused by the war to the 
present generation are found to be an immense gain in 
the future, as they certainly v.'ill be — when all of these 
ameliorated conditions, in so far as they relate to him, 
shall have been reached — then the memory of his great 
deeds and pure life and noble character will take posses- 
sion of men's minds to the exclusion of their former false 
views and errors, and thus being able to look upon him 
with unclouded sight, they will behold him exactly as he 
was, and as he will continue to be in reputation, one of 
the greatest of earth's great men. 

The divine oversight and guidance of earthly affairs is 
nowhere more manifest than in that portion of our 
national history which relates to slavery. The nation 
has been punished, as it deserved to be, for tolerating 
the hideous wrong. The oppressed race has been bene- 
fited, as was right that it should be, by the continuance 



566 E. C. POMEROY. 

of that wrong. The emancipated slave comes from his 
bondage better fitted for the duties of civilization and bet- 
ter capable of self-support and self-improvement than any 
other equal number of his race. Shall he not share these 
.advantages with the less-favored portion of his people ? 
Shall he not be a missionary to his fellows of the " dark 
continent," still suffering under a bondage more crushing 
and cruel than that from which he- himself has been 
freed ? The bondage of ignorance and superstition by 
which they are enslaved is a bondage from which they 
cannot be emancipated by proclamation, but only by slow 
growth in knowledge through generations of instruction. 
Their period of instruction will come and growth in 
knowledge follow as one of the fruits, in part at least, of 
the Emancipation Proclamation issued by Mr. Lincoln ; 
and in so far as they shall then be liberated from the 
gross barbarism in which they are sunk, the credit of their 
improved condition must proportionally be attributed to 
the same cause, and will in like proportion enhance the 
glory of that great act. 

The far-reaching beneficence of that great man's life- 
character and services cannot now be realized. Believers 
in the world's ultimate redemption from evil may picture 
to themselves the golden glories of that millennial era and 
rejoice in the contemplation of its purity and peace, but 
this is the work of the imagination. Not till the era 
comes shall its real brightness be seen, and not till then 
shall there be men wise enough to trace the blessed in- 
fluences by which it was brought about, — not till then 
shall the full measure of his greatness be known to the 
children of earth. 



E. C. POMEROY. 567 

When the freedman shall have come to his own and 
can speak for himself and his race with an applauding 
world to listen, men will look back over the landmarks of 
human progress, recalling the mighty agencies by which 
the grand result was achieved, and nowhere shall they find, 
in the long, bright vista of their vision, a glory more brilliant 
and beautiful and pure than that which rests upon the 
name and hallows the fame of Abraham Lincoln. 




Buffalo, 1882. 



568 ANDREW BOYD. 



I AM glad to be recorded with the many as one who 
had great love for Mr. Lincoln ; who reveres his 
name and memory, and who believes that God gave him 
to us for the crisis we were to pass through ; to lead us 
successfully through that four years of terrible civil war 
into the bright sunlight of a blessed peace, the early 
dawn only of which he was permitted to see, when he 
was cruelly and brutally murdered during an evening of 
recreation. We question if there was ever a man holding 
public office in our country who received more blame 
and more praise than Abraham Lincoln while President ; 
but when he died the nation sta^grered under the sad in- 
telligence ; a cry of unfeigned sorrow went up from every 
loyal breast ; even enemies had pity in their hearts ; and 
from almost every hamlet throughout the world came ex- 
pressions of sympathy for the loss of our good President. 
Mr. Lincoln's kind and forgiving nature should never be 
called in question. It was like unto the following : 
" Then Peter came to him and said, Lord, how oft shall 
my brother sin against me and I forgive him ? Till seven 
times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee until 
seven times, but until seventy ii?nes seven.'' I believe the 
answer which Jesus made to have been the ruling spirit 
of Mr. Lincoln towards his fellow-beingrs — friends or 
enemies : for he said, luit/i malice towards none, ivith 
charity for all. 

He was pure-hearted and pure-minded. There were 
times, perhaps, in our impatience we thought him wrong, 



ANDREW BOYD. 569 

and wished him to do different ; but the result showed 
that he was about right, and did things at the proper 
time for the benefit of all concerned. It is not likely 
that any man could have filled his place during the try- 
ing time he was President, perhaps, without erring — with- 
out displeasing many ; and it is certainly beyond doubt 
that but few would have been as conscientiously just as he. 
Who would have been more faithful ? He stood like the 
noble pine, that can bend before the storm but will not 
break. ''He stood when others fell!" No matter who 
was discouraged, it was not for hint to be disheartened ; 
or, at least, to show it. How well did he try to conceal 
the burden he had to bear ; wearinsf a smile, and tellino^ a 
story to forget his own sorrow, and to cheer up the timid 
and desponding. Mr. Lincoln has spoken and written 
some of the finest sentences to be found in our language. 
His speech at Gettysburg, and portions of his inaugurals, 
are very superior. A few words of his last inaugural, 
although written in prose, are really in rhyme. 

" Fondly do we hope. 

Fervently do we pray, 
That this mighty scourge of war 
May speedily pass away, &c., &c." 

Many of his speeches abound with fine, tender, poetic 
expression. His little off-hand good-bye address to his 
old friends when leaving Springfield in 1861 is full of 
deep pathos, and will never be forgotten. 

Mr. Lincoln, with his pen — and that was law — gave 
freedom to 4,000,000 of colored slaves. Mr. Lincoln was 
not looked up to with any degree of awe or reverence as 



570 ANDREW BOYD. 

some great men have been ; but he was respected and 
truly beloved by the masses of the people for his hon- 
esty and justness to all ; for his amiable temper and dis- 
position ; for his great kindness of heart; and for his un- 
swerving integrity to the principles of free government, 
and the honor of his country. He was really one of the 
people, was for the people, and stood by the people. Mr. 
Lincoln was half-brother to mercy and justice. Without 
the rank, which is but the "guinea's stamp," he was pure 
gold ; and from an apparently poor and humble sphere, 
be bounded at one leap in history to the side of Wash- 
ington. Both these great men showed their virtue and 
wisdom throuo;h a thunderino; life — or death — stru8:sfle of 
our country. The rising generation will outdo us in ap- 
preciation of his character. The charm that lingers 
about the name of the immortal WashinQfton as the Father 
of our Country, will also surround that of honest Abra- 
ham Lincoln as its Saviour. 



C4a^ aU2A^>^J~/ 




Syracuse, 1882. 




LUCY LARCOM. 571 



TOLLING. 

(April 15, 1865.) 

TOLLING, tolling, tolling! 
All the bells of the land ! 
Lo, the patriot martyr 

Taketh his journey grand ! 
Travels into the ages, 

Bearing a hope how dear ! 
Into life's unknown vistas, 
Liberty's great pioneer. 

Tolling, tolling, tolling ! 

See, they come as a cloud, 
Hearts of a mighty people, 

Bearing his pall and shroud ; 
Lifting up, like a banner. 

Signals of loss and woe ; 
Wonder of breathless nations, 

Moveth the solemn show. 

Tolling, tolling, tolling ! 

Was it, O man beloved. 
Was it thy funeral only 

Over the land that moved? 
Veiled by that hour of anguish. 

Borne with the rebel rout 
Forth into utter darkness, 

Slavery's corse went out. 

Boston, 1882. 



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